UPCOMING SCREENING:
Urban Cinema, World Urban Forum | 7th November 1400 hrs, Cairo, Egypt 2024
All Things Environmental Film Festival (ALTEFF) | 22nd November - 8th December, 2024
PAST SCREENINGS:
- 16th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) | July 2024
- EcoReels Film Festival by Kriti Film Club, Alliance Francaise Delhi | June 2024
- London Climate Action Week, United Kingdom | June 2024
- Catalyst Social Impact 2024, Delhi | August 2024
Urban poor communities face disproportionate vulnerability to climate change, yet their voices are often absent from larger climate discussions. The youth in Mumbai’s Govandi, for example, suffer from high tuberculosis rates due to the lack of sunlight and limited open spaces, due to which they are denied basic health insurance. This stark reality points to the intersection of poor infrastructure and poor health, as well as the growing inequalities that accompany rapid urbanization, all exacerbated with the growing climate crisis.
Gutter Ki Machhli is an animation film that weaves together the voices of the children, youth and women of a rehabilitation and resettlement colony in Govandi, Mumbai through their drawings and poetry to vocalise, localise and visualise their experiences of climate change in their poorly built homes and neighbourhood. Through a series of arts-based research workshops—spanning mediums such as drawing, photography, theatre, and poetry—residents of Govandi were invited to share their personal experiences of climate change in their under-resourced neighborhoods. The film weaves together these diverse forms of expression to create a powerful, localized narrative around climate change, reflecting the daily struggles of residents living in poorly built homes in a densely packed urban environment.
The film takes a grassroots approach to climate discourse, showcasing the lived experiences of a marginalized community that is often overlooked in broader climate discussions. By focusing on the voices of those directly impacted by climate change, the film aims to build a new, community-driven vocabulary for climate communication—one that bridges scientific language and the realities of everyday life. Through art, the project empowers residents to vocalize their environmental concerns, fostering an inclusive dialogue about climate adaptation and resilience.
Since its release in April 2024, Gutter Ki Machhli has been screened at multiple national and international festivals, conferences, schools and cultural organisations! Some include Climate Charche by Bengaluru Sustainability Forum 2025 and Kriti Films, COP29 Green Health Alliance Panel 2024, the 16th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK)2024, and London Climate Action Week.
The film was nominated as a finalist at the All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) 2024 in the Best Indian Short Film on Environment category. It has been screened in schools across Munsiyari, Tamil Nadu, Ahmedabad, Gwalior, Pune, Himachal Pradesh, Bangalore, Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, Guwahati, Odisha, as well as cultural organizations such as Arthshilla, Gender Lab, Care Trust and more sparking discussions on grassroots climate action in marginalized neighborhoods
Here is an article to learn more about the process.
If you want to catch a screening or host one, write to me :)
Stills of the film
Arts based workshops
The film came together after a series of arts-based research workshop facilitated with the children, youth and women of Govandi. The workshop modules were designed keeping drawing, poetry, photography and theatre as approaches to bring to surface the various experiences of environmental changes that often go unobserved or unvocalised but impact the day to day. This arts based approach to the climate workshop was not only an evidence building tool, but more so an empathetic, non-extractive and participatory method to discuss issues that are otherwise too technical to understand.
Film and workshop credits:
Directed by Natasha Sharma
Produced by Global Resilience Partnership & Community Design Agency
Voices: Zeenat Shaikh, Wasim Shaikh, Shenaaz Khan, Umair Shaikh, Parveen Shaikh, Hidaya Ansari, Natasha Sharma, Rehan Malik, Mubashira Shaikh, Kanta Nadar, Mohammad
Drawings by
Shaziya Khan, Ifra Khan, Mubashira Shaikh, Zeenat Shaikh, Aaliya Shaikh, Ayesha Malik, Ayesha Shaikh, Shenaaz Khan, Mahek Khan, Asad Shaikh, Azad Shaikh, Javeria Khan, Sakina Khan, Bushra Khan,Khusboo Khan, Rehan Malik, Wasim Shaikh, Angle Nadar, Sofiya Qureshi, Suman Gangadiya, Pooja Gangadiya, Mahida Ansari, Hidaya Ansari, Zaibun Shaikh, Umair Shaikh, Mohammad
Story contributors
Parveen Shaikh, Kanta Nadar, Yasmeen Shaikh, Kalpana Patil, Saira Bano Shaikh, Kulsum Khan, Ruby Shaikh, Babee Shaikh, Afsana Shaikh, Keshkasha Khan, Samreen Mukri, Shaheen Shaikh, Paru Shetty & Badrunnisa Shaikh
Special thanks to Pankaj Singh Kumar, Aanchal Kapur (Kriti Film Club) and Sandhya Naidu Janardhan
Animation by Triparna Maiti
Sound Design by Kalesh Lakshmanan
Script: Natasha Sharma, Mansi Bhalerao
Photographs: Rajesh Vora , Prachi Metawala
Workshop Facilitators: Natasha Sharma, Nikhil Sharma, Himanshu Meena
Community Organiser: Parveen Shaikh
Coordinators: Sana Shaikh, Tayyaba Darvesh, Mansi Bhalerao
Coordinators: Sana Shaikh, Tayyaba Darvesh, Mansi Bhalerao
Subtitles by: Akanksha Gupta
Audio recording: Sandra Alexander, Sana Shaikh, Affan, Mansi Bhalerao
Rap by Code 43 - Mateen Ansari, Kasim Shaikh, Zaheer Choudhary, Shahid Sayyed
Project by: Community Design Agency, ElemenTree Foundation, Global Resilience Partnership.
