A DOCUMENTARY ON DROUGHTS

Villagers in the dry land of Bolangir in Orissa battle hunger, succumb
to starvation and sell off children to survive. Landless and the
marginal farmers are subjected to one of the worst forms of
exploitation. In this sage a human suffering, both human and
constitutional rights are violated year after year. BIBHUTI MISHRA
writes about the same shown on a screen through a film by Rupashree
Nanda.

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A 60-minute film 'Harvest Of Hunger', on food security and distress
migration in the drought-prone western Orissa has won the Best
Investigative Film in the non-fiction category at 52nd National Filim
Awards recently.

Actionaid India has produced the film that has been scripted and
directed by dubutante filmmaker Rupashree Nanda. The editor of the film,
Prashant Nayak has also won the award for The Best Editor.

The film depicts the struggle of the landless and the marginal farmers
to beat hunger on a day-to-day basis. We have tried to document one of
the worst droughts that hit Bolangir in the year 2000 and its aftermath,
says Nanda, who did a Master in English from the Utkal University and
Mass Communication from the Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia
Millia Islamia in the late 'nineties.

"We had already felt that documentaries, if they were well made, move
people. I am from Bolangir, the western Orissa district, and I am
well-versed in their language Kosali. The plight of these people needed
to be highlighted because the system just leaves them to toil and die!"
Nanda added, her commitment glistening in her eyes. She revalse that she
had to research nearly eight months before she bagan shooting for the
film in late 2000. The film was censored in 2004.

The camera follows the villagers as they turn to labour contractors for
consumption loans, and then to repay these loans, migrate as bonded
labourers to the brick kilns in Andhra Pradesh. The film has been shot
in location at various villages in Bolangir in western Orissa and in
Shameerpet in Hyderabad too.

Nanda says they are subjected to one fo the worst forms of exploitation,
working almost 18 hours a day in the brick kilns and subsisting on a
diet of broken rice for a period of eight months.

As a migrant woman comments in the film, "We have come to eat
chicken-feed 'kanki' (broken rice) here."

The issue of migrant labour has been addressed in painstaking detail. It
brings out the fact that the labour market in Bolangir is worth Rs 40 to
50 crore and comprises 150,000 to 200,000 people. Children constitute
one-third of this huge labour force.

As Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who has been interviewed in
the film, points out, the first impact of drought or flood
is not through the food market but through the employment
market, labour market. The film also convincingly argues
that the brick kiln industry flourishes on migrant labourers
as they are skilled and at the same time, come cheap.

In this sage of human suffering, both human and constitution rights are
violated year after year. Those left behind in the dry land of Bolangir,
battle hunger, succumb to starvation and sell off children to survive.
Many committees come to enquire and investigate, but these only serve to
mock at people's suffering and further alienate them from the state.

Nanda further adds that it is sad to see the game of one's progress
among politicians and bureaucrats on display at the expense of the most
oppressed communities. When the monsoon comes, the migrants return empty
handed, hoping never to have to migrate agin. However, despite a good
monsoon, they are on their ways to the kilns again.

Nanda is effusive about the people's support while working in the field.
"Some saw me as a sister, some as a friend. They gave me food and
shelter when necessary. Though vulnerable themselves, they protected me
in the brick kilns whenever the 'seths' or 'munshis' threatened or
abused. They trusted me and shared their lives with me. If I could
dedicate this film to anyone, it would be to those dignified people. Our
efforts would be truly rewarded if the film brings about a change in the
lives of these people."

A screening of the film is being planned for the state legislators soon.
Currently working on a film on the Right to Information, and the
anti-Suktel dam project in Bolangir, she is all praise for the producer
too. "Actionaid gave me complete freedom once the basic premise was
agreed upon, and has been always supportive. To their credit, they did
not hurry the process."

Editor of the film, Prashant Nayak, has joined as faculty of FTII, Pune.
(Reproduced from The Navhind Times, Goa, Monday, August 22, 2005)
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