MEAT, SHOOTS AND LEAVES
Exploring the wild meat trade in the Northeast won filmmakers Rita Banerji and Shilpi Sharma a Green Oscar this month. NISHITA JHA reports
Exploring the wild meat trade in the Northeast won filmmakers Rita Banerji and Shilpi Sharma a Green Oscar this month. NISHITA JHA reports
WHEN STUCK deep in a forest, with only hunters and wild animals for company, having a plan might seem like a good idea. For 41-year-old Rita Banerji and 34-year-old Shilpi Sharma, the filmmaker duo of Dustyfoot Productions, this was the precise moment they decided to abandon all plans. Even in their wildest dreams, the Delhi-based filmmakers had not imagined that their foray into the forest would lead to the most prized catch of all the Green Oscar. On 13 October, the jury for the Wild Screen Awards in Bristol unanimously praised Dustyfoot Productions Wild Meat Trail as a balanced and sensitive depiction of a complex issue. A sure sign that sometimes it is better to have a heart, than a plan.
Banerji and Sharma had first travelled to the forests of Arunachal Pradesh almost five years ago, to document the plight of bears orphaned due to hunting. Instead, their project turned into a complex glimpse into the tribal huntergatherer communities of the Northeast, and their unique relationship with nature.
Hunters in these regions have traditionally shot animals either for food or ritual. The film tracks how a changing world and absent opportunities have driven this into an increasingly commercial activity, creating thriving wild meat markets and depleting the wildlife. (A vegetable-seller making Rs.2,000 a month can get up to Rs. 15,000 from wild meat.) However, the story is not entirely dismal. Communities like the Nyishi tribe are trying to save their fauna. The film tracks this through Tarang, a first generation Nyishi forest department worker, who has returned to sensitise his community to the perils of excessive hunting. Poignantly, the filmmakers show how most elders knowledge of the forest is very deep, even though they are hunters themselves.
We were carrying a book on mammals for reference when we met this old man who told us the local names of every animal in it, along with its peculiarities, its sound and particular habitat in the forest, says Sharma.
The younger hunters displayed much less familiarity. Clearly, there was a need to initiate dialogue in the community. Unless we could help them generate income out of protecting their natural wealth, the situation would be grim, says Banerji.
Banerji and Sharma went on to film Wild Meat Trail and create a unique educational outreach workshop, Under the Canopy. They hope winning this Green Oscar will be a catalyst to creating even more awareness within the communities in the Northeast and outside. Tennysons prayer for the wild at heart might be profound, but sometimes, a film is the most effective.
* A vegetable vendor making Rs. 2,000 a month, can earn almost five times the amount selling wild meat
* Shoot and reveal Banerji (centre) with hunters in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh