This film festival has been made possible purely through voluntary efforts of the team of dedicated volunteers, judges and the Grand Jury. Hence, we need the support of all viewers to continue with our mission of educating millions more about the UN SDGs and inspiring action for the Global Goals.
Please support us with any amount if these films make you pause for a moment and help you realise the importance of our actions in today’s interconnected world to ensure a safe, secure and sustainable future for all.
Ruuposh
Ruuposh is an idiosyncratic documentary that features Ruksana Begum- her late father Mehboob Khan and her son- Mohd Fehmeed, who belong to a Muslim minority family of India 2021. The documentary follows a personal narrative of how Mehboob Khan stayed back in India at the time of partition while his entire extended family moved to Pakistan. Ever since, there had been an on and off contact with the relatives in Pakistan which completely ceased off a few decades ago. And while, the younger generation wants to establish contact with the parted relatives- does the political circumstances of the two countries allow the possibility and sustenance of any friendly relationship? The documentary is a larger comment on the current political state of India- it talks about the growing intolerance and the biased relationship the country continues to have with its separated neighbor even after years of independence.
The Back-flow Rain
Legend has it that city Sa witnesses a back-flow rain falling from the ground to the sky on every summer solstice. The girl’s parents failed to look for the rain when they were young. Later, her mother vanished with the broken marriage, leaving an anthology of Xiao Hong, a feminism writer in China, which was the only clue for the girl to search for her mother. Then the girl set out on a journey to find her mother…
It’s Bean Too Hot
Can you imagine our world without coffee? It’s a very real possibility. It’s Bean Too Hot tells the story of the coffee heroes – small farmers in Costa Rica and Tanzania who are fighting climate change every day to save their livelihoods and your daily cup of coffee. Climate change is affecting coffee production worldwide. Wild species of coffee as well as the cultivated Arabica coffee are showing sensitivity to changes in temperature, rainfall, pests and disease. Experts predict that the land suitable for Arabica coffee could decrease to 50% by 2050. This is a story told by those who are feeling climate change the most. It is estimated that there are 25 million coffee farmers around the world, all of which depend on coffee to maintain their livelihoods. The heroes responsible for our favourite drink that we often forget about are the most important part of the chain, but also the one that is struggling the most. Adapting to changing climate requires severe changes in farming and funds many of the farmers don’t have. It’s Bean Too Hot takes you on a journey around the world, from Costa Rica and Tanzania all the way to your couch as you drink your morning coffee, unaware of the threats that it’s facing. It dives into fully carbon-neutral farms, explores climate-smart agricultural practices being used to adapt to climate change and protect biodiversity, and finds out what drives smallholder families to continue producing coffee. The chain ends with each and every one of us; the consumers. By thinking about our coffee choices and opting for sustainable coffee brands that protect the environment and support the farmers who grow it, we can all play part in helping save coffee for the future.
The Letter
The Letter is the first film directed by 15-year-old Aarsha Mukherji for the 2020 Children’s Day programme of UNICEF. The film is an appeal to Mother Earth through a heartfelt letter from a child and touches upon the important issue of climate change.