The beauty of nature can be admired not just by looking at it but also being firm on sustaining it to continue the way it is suppose to be. The same goes with the Khazan lands and award winning documentary filmmaker Kabir Naik has directed a documentary film, ‘Khanvte’ which brings to life a centuries old man-made built system to use the river waters to cultivate paddy, harvest fish and even produce salt, the Khazan lands.
‘Khanvte’ will be screened on October 7 at 10 am for school students at the Sadbhav Mahotsav 2023 at the Pilar Pilgrim Centre, Pilar and the second screening will be held at 2.15 pm for college students, farmers and villagers.
Kabir from Taleigao is currently based in Delhi as he is a student of Delhi University yet he is deeply rooted with his love for Goa and it’s culture and traditions. Kabir has been working on documentary films for the last six years. “I made multiple short and feature length documentary films on various socio-cultural and socio-political issues. I love this medium because it gives a voice to what I want to say to the world. There are very few mediums that I found as impactful as documentary filmmaking and that is why I feel gravitated towards documentary films than other media,” says Kabir.
He further adds, “Sometimes it gets difficult to make stories about Goa but I take long breaks and shoot my films during those breaks. I feel that Goa has the culture that needs to be documented and internal perspective is very crucial. I plan the film from Delhi itself but shoot the film in Goa. I have an excellent team that helps me execute a lot of projects I work on back in Goa.”
Kabir has always been fascinated with the khazans and it was a topic that interested him for a long time. “Research wise, I had made a short documentary by traveling home 4-5 years back. Since then, the research was on but a year back, we started intensive research, analysed a lot of data and spoke to multiple stakeholders across the khazan and got different perspectives that built the story,” explains Kabir.
The documentary features Eknath Kauthankar, a 102-year-old farmer, Elsa Fernandes, president of Goa Khazan Society, Ajay Eknath Kauthankar, Santan Rodrigues, chairman of the Village Biodiversity Management Committee in Curtorim, historian Rafael Viegas and Prof Ramrao Wagh, associate professor, Goa University.
“Eknath is the most crucial part of the film and unfortunately, he is no more with us but the impact that he had on us, everyone who filmed this and also on the film is just unparalleled. When someone with so much wisdom and who has seen so much of the world tells you things and how connected he is with the khazans, it is a really special feeling and I could not ever imagine to have anyone else speaking about the khazans than Eknath. We all dearly miss him, he is and will be a mentor to me and someone who has shaped my life in such a positive manner,” says Kabir about Eknath.
Though the formation of Khazan lands sounds complicated, the team behind the film have explained it through different mediums including illustrations. The film took a year to make from illustrations, sounds, interviews and visuals. “It was a very lengthy process but when you have a team that is dedicated to a cause, devoting all their time to save a system that is so crucial for Goa, then the process becomes much smoother. It took a year of ground work, research, and post production to make the film what it is today,” he says.
With one screening in September and now the next at Pilar, Kabir hopes to reach more people to make them aware about the importance of the Khazan lands and what they mean to Goa.
While the documentary is a wakeup call in the face of development in the state, do people understand the importance of khazan lands?
Kabir replies, “The people of Goa really care about their khazans. It’s just that their comprehensive knowledge and idea about how to protect it is not accessible. If it is made accessible and this documentary is just a small step towards that but if this knowledge and data is made accessible, a lot more people will want to join hands to save the khazans. It is really important that we as citizens of the state come forward and make it a point that we voice out our opinions. We all who have grown in Goa have stories that surround the khazans. We need to talk about them and then only we can think of a cleaner and more sustainable future for our state.”
Kabir is next working on a new documentary film based on the St Inez Creek. “The Charles Correa Foundation Nagari Film Competition is an annual competition designed to guide and develop films that focus on urban issues, specific to Indian cities. The foundation handpicks ten documentaries from across the country and this year, we have been selected. Our film is about the St Inez Creek and how it is important to the city of Panjim and what role does the St Inez creek play in tidal flushing and culturally for the city,” concludes Kabir, with the hope to soon get working on the film.