Nagari 2024 - Nagari

NAGARI 2024

MOBILITY IN URBAN INDIA

Mobility is the capability to move from one location to another influenced by the push (i.e., outflux of people) and the pull (i.e., influx of people) factor. This movement is governed by three key interrelated choices that citizens make, namely, housing, transport and livelihoods.

Past editions of Nagari have looked at the themes of housing adequacy and livelihoods in urban India. Keeping transport as the central performative nerve in an urban environment, this year’s Nagari bioscope aims to create an anthology documenting the elements governing mobility and its dynamics in shaping Indian cities.

THEME

FINAL FILMS

WINNING ENTRIES

AWARD CEREMONY

SHORTLISTED ENTRIES

BLOGS

PEOPLE

GOLDEN BIOSCOPE AWARD

SUNDARI

Film By: Sudarshan Sawant & Dhanesh Gopal
Mentored By: Pankaj Rishi Kumar

JURY CITATION:
Sundari is poetic, moving, and touching. It beautifully intertwines everyday life with local mythologies. Through its evocative visuals and compelling soundscapes, it addresses larger questions about what happens to the natural beauty of a place that becomes the detritus of urbanization. The film looks at an important issue for the communities living in close tandem with such environmental systems.
Through the use of creative narrative devices, the film evokes a sense of longing and lament while asking pertinent questions about the city’s exploding infrastructure, its relationship with nature and how we think about climate change.

SILVER BIOSCOPE AWARD

SHAB-PARAK | THE NIGHT-FLIERS

Film By: Sabika Syed & Nikhil Mehrotra
Mentored By: Pankaj Rishi Kumar

JURY CITATION:
Shab-Parak’s power lies in its cinema verite form. It constructs a compelling narrative using real people’s voices and beautiful images shot live on location; instead of relying on an external storyteller’s voice.
The film draws attention to a major issue, accessing the city at night, that relates not only to Delhi where this story is set, but to all urban centres. It gives us a glimpse into one of the many unnoticed worlds that exist within a city, and shows how strangers form a community through the simple act of travelling together on a late night bus.

JURY COMMENDATION AWARD

LEVEL UP!

Film By: Bhargav Prasad, Archanaa Seker & Pavithra Sriram
Mentored By: Bina Paul

JURY CITATION:
Level Up highlights a very crucial and pertinent issue that cities today need to address, that of inclusivity and accessibility. It raises important questions about urban accessibility for people with disabilities, focusing on both the physical and social discomfort faced by individuals trying to navigate the city.

The film presents its differently abled protagonists as heroes, but it does not shy away from showing their raw struggles with simple, everyday acts. The viewer is led to an understanding of the gravity of the issues they face, and the urgent need to bring about change.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

THE LAST LOCAL OF DELHI

Film By: Arundhathi & Sarah Zia
Mentored By: Bina Paul

TEXT DESCRIPTION:
In the bustling metropolis of Delhi, lies an unused suburban rail transit network. As the city continues to deal with problems such as traffic congestion, deteriorating air quality and the lack of an integrated, multi-modal public transit system, the film talks explores the potential of the Delhi Ring Railway system as a viable public transit system. The film tells the tale of an erstwhile rail network that offered an effective and affordable alternative to travel across the city but has now gone into oblivion due to the lack of planning and support by the government.

The Award Ceremony for the Nagari Short film Competition 2024 was conducted in collaboration with the Godrej Design Lab at their initiative, Conscious Collective in Mumbai on December 14, 2024. The event showcased all film trailers from this year’s anthology addressing the theme ‘Mobility in Urban India’. This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by our past mentor and resource expert Avijit Mukul Kishore on ‘The Legacy of the City Film’.

The event concluded with the announcement of the winners and a screening of the award-winning films. Additionally, as collaborators for the Conscious Collective, this year, all films were also screened across their 2-day event in between the scheduled talks and sessions.

PANELISTS

Avijit Mukul Kishore

Cinematographer

Jabeen Merchant

Film Editor | Teacher | Script Consultant

Pradeep Dalal

Architect | Writer | Educator

Rohan Shivkumar

Architect | Urban Designer | Filmmaker

The film ‘Cut the Cord’ explores the fate of Bhoond/tempo, the option of shared transport. A crucial transportation mode for many low-income Punjabis, the tempo faces a potential decline due to lack of supportive policies.

The film ‘थानै कठै जाणो?’ explores the challenges and resilience of female bus conductors in Rajasthan roadways, navigating between demanding duties, societal constraints and future hopes.

The film ‘The Delhi Local’ is an oral history of the now defunct ring railway system presented through the eyes of its erstwhile users and operators. Infrastructural neglect and decay being the key themes

Rajiv Rajan’s dream to commute independently on his wheelchair and the long legal battle for low-floor buses is the core of the film ‘Level up’. The film features Rajiv and his loved ones and explores themes of universal design and barrier-free public transport.

The film ‘The Cycle of Life’ traverses rural-urban landscape with Umesh, who travels to Nagpur in ST bus, as he rents a cycle to buy goods from the local market. And his journey, back to his village to sell the goods.

Beyond the tourist gaze, “Town on Water” unveils the hidden stories of Kashmir’s Hanji community, water dwellers whose lives are intertwined with the lake’s changing tides, battling rapid urbanisation and its impact.

How do people move at night? The film ‘A City Waiting’ explores how essential the night bus system is to the national capital, a city that never sleeps through the lens of the passenger, the bus driver, and those who wait only to leave.

The film Sundari follows the story of a ferry riding family in Madh Koliwada facing disruption from a new bridge construction. The legend of Sundari, a fabled boatwoman, echoes their struggle for survival.

The roads of Pune don’t support the working-class people, for whom a bicycle is the only mode of commute. The film ‘साखळ्या आणि चाके’ looks at the lives of these people who are not a part of the urban transportation plans.

The film ‘Cowboys of the West (Up)’ aims to document the everyday lives of informal milk suppliers to Delhi. Through their journey the film hopes to explore notions of mobility, networks and space.

Through Abdul, a migrant salesman walking across the suburbs of Western Mumbai selling eggs, bread and snacks stacked upon a bicycle, the film ‘Walking with Abdul’ explores walking as a forced mobility inside a city.

In the film ‘Homes on the Line’ an elevated railway track celebrates progress above, while beneath it unfolds a moving tale of displacement and emotional loss.

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