JOHAR WELCOME TO OUR WORLD

Directed by Nilanjan Bhattacharya | Hindi with English subtitles | 58 minutes

For many people in India the word `food’ means little other than what you eat to survive. A large section of these poorest of the poor are tribals or adivasis. Johar Welcome to Our World focuses on Jharkhand in eastern India, the home for thirty-two adivasi communities. These adivasis, have an old and dynamic dependence on their local forests from where they get a significant portion of their core nutrition and medicinal material. They have been engaged in a symbiotic relationship with the forests that deeply influences their social, religious and cultural expressions.

Johar Welcome to Our World, explores the intricate relationship the adivasis of Jharkhand have with their forests. The film documents traditional recipes, the medicinal qualities of various herbs, weeds and fruits and the traditional knowledge of their sustainable management by the adivasis. The film also lays how mindless, aggressive development and the government's wrong-headed conservation policies have damaged the tribals’ relationship with their land and pushed them ever deeper into food insecurity.

The film is an attempt to draw attention towards an overlooked but rich and environmentally sustainable food culture that is hugely significant for a country like India. It received the National Film Award for Best Narration (Writing) in 2010 and has been screened at Tribal Conclave, Jamshedpur, ZEF Bonn University, University of Göttingen, and  AEIN, Luxembourg.