Dharti Latar Re Horo (2022)

In a uranium mining area of Jharkhand, India, a tribal couple copes with the loss of their daughter. For them, the land and forest bear witness to their daughter's memory. With great sensitivity and beauty, the film explores the deeply intertwined connections between tribal communities and the forest that is their traditional home. Deftly interweaving the vivid colors of their festivals, folk songs, and the sense of community that binds them together, 'Tortoise Under The Earth' is a poetic elegy to a world that is rapidly disappearing, subsumed by unchecked development and displacement. The film utilizes the couple's tragedy, expanding to reveal regional details, emphasizing the broader environmental crisis and human rights issues affecting the Santhal tribe, native people of India and Bangladesh who are threatened by uranium mining. "Tortoise Under the Earth" is a hybrid docu-fiction format that highlights underlying meanings, interweaving ethnological and anthropological elements. It gracefully provides a broader perspective through a deeply emotional personal story. This approach creates an immediate impact that conveys a potent humanist message.