Saturday, July 24, 2010

Screening of "Mean Sea Level"

On 16th July, 2010, the Biome Trust organised the screening of Pradip Saha's “Mean Sea Level” at Alliance Francaise, Bangalore. Pradip works with the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi. The screening was well attended with a near full house.

After the film, Pradip (who is the writer, director and producer) interacted with the audience and fielded questions.

The movie looks at climate change as seen through the eyes of people living in the sunderbans of West Bengal.








Mr Vishwanath of the Biome Trust interacting with the audience







The opening scene shows a villager sitting on a boat trying to locate his erstwhile village. Seemingly in the middle of the ocean, they are actually at the very spot where their village once stood. It is a poignant moment as the villagers try and guess at where the defining features of their past life (temple, church, house) once stood.

Mean Sea Level captures the great beauty of the sunderbans, as well as a sense of foreboding at having to tackle a seemingly unsurmountable problem. There are some outstanding cinematic moments like when the camera pans all along the length of an aerial tree – down to its roots, or when a lone sailboat slowly passes by.

With a striking music score Mean Sea Level made for a powerful viewing experience.












The film's opening scene










Director Pradip Saha fielding questions from the audience