Mini Film Festival February 25-26, 2012

India"s Agrarian Crisis
Is GE The Solution?


a Mini Film Festival
February 25-26, 2012


Thrissur, Kerala


DDS Community Media Trust
Village Pastapur
Medak District, AP

About this film package

It is a pleasure for me to present this package of films on behalf of Southern Action on Genetic Engineering [SAGE], a five year old organization working in all South Indian states, Orissa and Maharashtra. SAGE intends to democratize the debate on Genetic Engineering in food and farming by liberating it from an incestuous small group that keeps the debate confined

to emails and sign-ons. SAGE has been widening this debate to schools, colleges, panchayats, municipalities, consumer groups, farming communities, medical doctors, legal fraternity and so on that the issue of GE and the dangers that it portends becomes a point of discussion across all sections of population.

The SAGE has previously held festival of films on GE in many parts of South India by presenting a special film package for various sectors of the citizenry. The Thrissur Mini Festival called India's Agrarian Crisis: Is GE a Solution? is another important step in showcasing the use of film as a medium to widen the debate on GE. This special package is a part of the renowned VIBGYOR Festival, an annual film festival conducted by committed filmmakers, academics and student community of Kerala.

India's Agrarian Crisis: Is GE a Solution? brings together extraordinary contemporary thinkers such as P Sainath to filmmakers who have consistently tracked the impact of genetic engineering on the farmingscape of India. Suma Jasson's I want My Father Back and Micha Peled's Bitter Seeds are cases in point. Focussing on the tortured Vidarbha District in Maharashtra, these films bust the promised myth of Genetic Engineering to resolve India's agrarian crisis. They, however, take care not to situate the issue of GE in farming [Bt Cotton to be precise] in isolation but locate it in the wider context of neo liberal policies of the Government of India and the assault of multinational corporations who are smelling a great opportunity for ruthless exploitation of the vast farming community in India.

Deepa Bhatia's Nero's Guests and Krishnendu Bose's Harvesting Hunger further widen the canvas and deal with the debate on a much larger geographical scale. Deepika follows renowned analyst of India's rural poverty Mr P Sainath and through him portrays the death of India's rural economy and its ethos. Krishnendu looks at rampant hunger and malnutrition in India and traces

their roots in the externalization of all agri inputs dominated by agro chemical industry and transnational corporations.

Pankaj Gupta's Apna Aloo Bazaar Becha is a rich analysis of this phenomenon. The film goes a step beyond and looks at the Beej Bachao movement in the Himalayas as a possible liberatory force for the protection of the dignity and survival of farmers.

Another very positive film of the package is the Community Conquers Hunger made by the non literate dalit peasant women from Medak District of Andhra Pradesh. These women trace the path of their communities of the deprived and marginalized from a position of starvation to a status of food sovereignty in a span of 20 years. Radiating vibrant hope, this film indicates the way forward for the beleaguered Indian peasantry.

It has been both a joy and privilege to have put together this film package for a discerning audience. It is indicative of what a responsible media can do to focus on a national crisis and present it to the national audiences with a creative commitment.

We are grateful to all the filmmakers and their producers for letting us screen these films and add to the body of our understanding on the agrarian crisis in India.

We are also grateful to VIBGYOR organizing committee for according us permission to host this special festival. My special thanks are due to my colleague Ms Nagalaxmi who worked hard to make this event a possibility.

p v satheesh

Hyderabad

Director : Deccan Development Society February 25, 2012

National Convenor: Southern Action on Genetic Engineering [SAGE]

for more details: www.ddsindia.com