Film Screenings by Samaj Pragati Sahyog (SPS) Community Media
The screening was part of our larger Culinary Arts curation at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2023. Read more about it here.
The Locavore collaborated with SPS Community Media for a series of film screenings at the Festival. Based in Neemkhada, Madhya Pradesh, the organisation is a leading voice in documenting rural India. Through their documentaries, they’ve brought to the fore the rich tapestry of the country’s culinary traditions, especially from remote tribal villages of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. A selection of films presented at the Festival offered insights into sustainable farming, edible wild foods, and the changing landscape of agriculture in a rapidly warming world.
A panel discussion titled ‘Culinary Narratives from the Heartland’ saw the SPS Community Media team—Shobhit Jain, Pinky Brahma Choudhury, Laxminarayan Devda, and Milind Chhabra—in conversation with Chef TZac. They spoke about how these films have been creating a positive change for the rural communities they feature, as well as the challenges faced by the team while making participatory documentaries.
Two documentaries, Jowar Gatha and Chidiya, Pujara aur Solah Rala Chor, served as centrepieces for the discussion, both capturing the significance of millets in the cultural and agricultural landscapes of central India.
To know more about Samaj Pragati Sahyog click here, and read our interview with Laxminarayan Devda in English and Hindi, as part of the Millet Revival Project.
