Hello Grove-members!
Laura Khanna here, ALT EFF’s Festival Producer. I am thrilled to have your attention today to report on the outcome of the 4th edition of our pan-India environmental festival festival which took place December 1-10, 2023.
ABOUT ALT EFF:
All Living Things Environmental Film Festival curates the world’s best environmental cinema, under-represented in the mainstream media, and manifests as a platform for filmmakers, community leaders and changemakers to connect with citizens and each other on climate solutions, large and small. We take a decentralised, community-based approach with diverse film screening events across India and the world. This model, made possible in collaboration with Screening Partners, prioritises accessibility and scale.
PROGRESS ON OUR GOALS:
In ALT EFF 2023, we focused on proving the efficacy of a decentralised film festival model that we pioneered in 2022 (following 2 virtual editions in the pandemic lockdowns of 2020 & 2021.) In 2023, ALT EFF was represented in over half of the states and territories of India (+ 3 international events) with 50 screenings. Screenings were evenly split between urban centers and rural communities.
Each screening event was unique and locally contexualised. In every event, films and post-film discussion were the priorities. The films were curated in collaboration with the Screening Partner. We know that hyper-local, contextualised curation results in richer audience participation. Simultaneously, we have the opportunity to weave global through-lines by screening international films on shared climate experiences.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Our film program consisted of 62 selections from across 30 countries, 40 of which were Indian premieres.
- 50 screening events across 10 days; 47 in India and 3 internationally (Ireland, Lebanon, & Germany)
- Indian events spanned 31 towns/cities across 18 states.
- 4,000 + attendees for live events
- 8,000 + attendees for the parallel online festival program (streamed globally)
- 42 workshops / panels / immersive experiences at live screening events
- 21 filmmaker Q&As at live screening events
- 70,000 + people reached online
RECAP VIDEO: Please watch our 1 minute recap on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d2FfLVPsno
REPORT: To go deeper, we invite you to check out the official 2023 Festival Report.
AVENUES FOR COLLABORATION WITH FELLOW GRANTEES:
There are nearly endless avenues for collaboration this year. We see storytelling in community as one of the key tools to increasing climate awareness and inspiring climate action, hyper-locally and systemically.
Schools Program:
We have long been eager to execute a schools program where we connect curriculum based learning to environmental films, curated especially for children and youth. We are putting the call out for any connections to schools - anywhere in the country - that would like to participate.
If you are connected to a school, please reach out at [email protected]
2024 Festival:
We invite any and all connections to community hubs, schools, hospitality venues, active third spaces and the like who are interested in hosting a screening event for the 2024 festival - November 22 - Dec 8, 2024. Let’s start the conversation early so we can co-curate an event to maximize impact for the community.
CHALLENGES:
Our biggest challenge at the moment is around language accessibility. We curate films from all across the world and show them pan-India. We face the challenge of not being able to share a highly relevant film to a certain community because the film is one language and the community speaks another.
We plan to surpass this challenge by investing in dubbing a selection of high-importance and high-impact films.
NEXT 6 MONTHS:
In the next 6 months, our programming team will acquire, watch, and curate the new selection for the 2024 festival. The team will also explore dubbing and subtitling films in Indian regional languages.
We will continue to build relationships with community and cultural groups across the country to increase the amount & diversity of ALT EFF screening events in 2024.
IMAGES of OUR WORK:
Please see the our official 2023 Festival Report for lots of photos and further details of the events!