Tortoise Under the Earth

Narrative Feature | Santhali with English Subtitles | India | Shishir Jha

In a uranium mining area of Jharkhand, India, a tribal couple mourns their daughter, finding solace in the land and forest. Tortoise Under The Earth explores the deep connections between tribal communities and their traditional home, weaving together vivid festivals, folk songs, and a strong sense of community in a poetic elegy to a world vanishing due to unchecked development and displacement.

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About the Filmmaker

Shishir Jha is a Mumbai-based filmmaker who was born in Bihar, India in 1988. He graduated from the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad with a Bachelor’s degree in Film & Video Communication Design. He received a Diploma in Filmmaking at the workshop of the late Abbas Kiarostami at EICTV (Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV) in Cuba in 2016. He has made several short films, and 'Tortoise Under The Earth' is his first feature film.