Sonal Pandya
Mumbai, 17 Mar 2021 18:42 IST
The vivid, lyrical documentary in the Kui language highlights the concerns of the Kondh people of Odisha.
Witnessing the serene and symbiotic bond between the Kondh people, a tribal group that lives in Odisha, and their idyllic paradise Niyamgiri is a wonderful and sombre experience. Like a horror movie, you know it’s not going to eventually end well for everyone involved but you can do nothing except keep watching in dread.
In states such as Goa and Maharashtra, citizens have been raising their voices in a bid to safeguard forests against rampant corporatization. Here, the Kondh are opposing corporations and the government who want use the Niyamgiri’s natural resources for profit and create a teak plantation.
The 45-minute documentary by Nandan Saxena and Kavita Bahl displays the profound ways in which the Kondh consider the forest as their mother. The forest takes care of their every need, from food to shelter.
Though the sustenance provided by the forest has been dwindling due to development, the tribals do not want to raise their children on processed food. But more importantly, much of the Kondh’s identity is tied to the forest. It’s all they have ever known.
The tribals are also plagued by rampaging elephants, who have lost their habitat. These displaced animals often destroy their crops. But one of the village men can understand; they have lost their shelter too.
I Cannot Give You My Forest is held together by the simple yet meaningful songs by the adivasi women in gratitude to the forest. Saxena and Bahl highlight their simple way of life, especially when a group of women cook and enjoy a meal of tubers.
To take these moments away from them would be unimaginably cruel. The documentary ends with this line: “One day the adivasis shall bell the cat.” This reviewer sincerely hope so!
I Cannot Give You My Forest was screened as part of the Community and Sustenance section of the Rising Gardens Film Festival, which was held from 12-15 March 2021.