The minute you enter the capital city of Panjim, you cannot ignore its presence. No matter which part of the city you travel to, you find the St Inez Creek in the vicinity. The creek is synonymous with Panjim and unfortunately, it is not a pretty sight. Highlighting the plight and cry of the choking creek, Kabir Naik and Kuhu Saha as directors, have given the creek a new limelight as they talk to Panjimities about their earliest memories of the creek as well as the way forward to control and preserve this unique aspect of the city. The film is the first Goan film has been selected for the prestigious Nagari Film Competition.
Directed by Kabir Naik and Kuhu Saha, ‘Avnati’ is produced by Charles Correa Foundation and mentored by Avijit Mukul Kishore. The cinematography is by Kabir Naik, research by Kuhu Saha, music produced by Gauaravi Patil, aerial cinematography by Rutvik Talawanekar, song by Shantshakti, with footage by Omkar Dharwadkar, Savio Fonseca and Vishal Rawlley. The 17 minute video is interspersed with scenes of the creek, old and new footage and even though there are noted Goans talking about it, the films focuses on the creek rather than the individuals. With illustrations often taking the place of their past memories, the film has shown different perspectives. The illustrations were created by Kuhu Saha, the co-director of the film.
Covering a distance of 3.7 kilometres, the St Inez creek flows through the city of Panjim and the aerial footage, shows the many bends as the creek makes its way to the Mandovi River. “I started working on this film, about 4-5 months back. Nagari Film Competition is a film competition that takes places across India every year. A total of nine films are selected out of like thousands of applications. Once shortlisted, they then help us to accumulate the idea and to develop it into a film. That’s how the film was made. It started with just discussing and all that five months back and then now, we just a few days back we completed and released it online through their YouTube Channel. The awards be announced on January 21. The film with the highest views will be declared the winner,” explains Kabir about the competition.
Kabir from Taleigao is currently based in Delhi as he is a student of Delhi University yet he has made a mark through his documentary films in Goa and in many documentary competitions. He has been working on documentary films for the last six years and has made multiple short and feature length documentary films on various socio-cultural and socio-political issues. He recently won the second place at the ‘75 Creative Minds of Tomorrow’ film challenge at 54th IFFI for the film ‘Ankuran’.
With ever-growing cities and an expanding population relying on the natural resources, this year the Nagari Film Competition 2023 focused on ‘Reclaiming the Urban Commons’ through the lens of waste management – its generation, management, disposal, treatment and the individual stories of people that are affected by it. The Nagari films explored cities like Guwahati, Kanpur, Pamohi in Guwahati, Magrahat near Kolkata, Ghazipur, Mandwa near Bhopal, Begur Lake, Bengaluru and Manek Chowk in Ahmedabad.
“This year’s topic was ‘Reclaiming the Urban Commons’, which is basically what a city shares. The space the city shares with all the individuals, so are the creek that flows through the entire city and connects everyone, however different their lives maybe to the city. That was the pitch for the idea how this creek is as an important urban common. And most cities are built around creeks. This story is not about one creek, but of thousands of creeks across the world and how it is dying a slow death. The interviews were based on people who have experience of living by the St Creek only. So what they lived through their experience about the Greek, resonates more with people. The questions were tailored to that and also their experience with creek. The way forward like in the film, also we talk about the stopping the sewage is the main thing. The flow of the sewage shouldn’t happen in the creek. As long as that happens, everything else can be thought about later. Rejuvenation plan can be done later. But the first thing, the first step to address is we need to stop the sewage from the Creek. Other than that, everything else can be done at a later stage,’ says Kabir, who has worked on films in a shorter time.
A unique element in the documentary is a rap song by Shant Shakti who has his own experience of living near the city and encountering the creek in his daily chores. Originally from Julalem, Morod, Taleigao, Dylan D’Souza, is popularly known by his stage name, Shant Shakti, which means peace and power. “Shant Shakti was a project that I started during the pandemic. I was at home and I got time to sit with my music and actually learn some new things. I used to work as an emcee in the nightlife scene in Goa and some of my friends were already rapping and they convinced me to rap. I got into writing and since I know how to speak in Konkani and English, I thought why not also write in Konkani? Waking Grant had already started the movement. And that also inspired me. It’s just from the help of friends who contribute to make it happen and it’s a full independent change,” says Shant Shakti about his rapping journey.
He calls working on the rap for the film as a fun experience. “I have always been interested in what Kabir does, especially his environment related documentaries. We have always supported each other and this was a fun process. He told me he’s writing about the St Inez Creek and he needed a song. He gave me a brief of what the film would look like and what it sounds like with the voice overs. I wrote something accordingly and he sent me the instrumental beat. Kabir sent me the revised lyrics which I sang and sent him the final file. Kabir had a short deadline to meet,” explains Shant Shakti.