Odisha’s tribal girl wins four national awards

Bhubaneswar: Lipika Singh Darai, a young  tribal girl hailing from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, has won four national film awards in her seven years of career in film-making and direction — an enviable feat indeed.

Of the four awards she has received since 2010, three are for her directorial ventures while other one is “Best Audiography”.

Lipika, who began her educational journey from an unkempt Odia-language primary school in her village to the country’s prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune,   bagged the best director award in the recently held 64th National Film Awards in the “Best Educational Film’ category, for her documentary  The Waterfall.

The Waterfall made in English and Hindi has been selected to be screened in 700 schools across India and abroad.

“I am very happy that I have already a dedicated audience for the film. The film has been entirely shot around the Khandadhar Waterfalls and in the nearby forests of Odisha’s Sundergarh district over a period of seven days,” says Lipika.

Produced by Syed Sultan Ahmed, The Waterfall traces the journey of a city boy, Karun, to appreciate the value of the environment and think critically about climate change and development. On a trip to his ancestral home in the interiors of the state of Odisha in India, he reflects on the nature of his relationship with a beautiful landscape and its relationship in turn with his city life.

“The protagonist Karun also learns that the mysterious hills and forests that they were exploring are about to be taken over by a company. The community of people living in the forests under the leadership of an old man has been standing up to safeguard the forests which has taken billions of years to form,” adds Lipika.

Her previous films —Kankee O Saapo (Dragonfly and snake), A Tree A Man A Sea and Gaarud — had also created waves across the country and abroad for wonderfully catching  the essence of rustic life.

On The Waterfall, says Lipika: “I have been hearing about the people’s resistance around the Khandadhar waterfall. I visited the place a number of times and was deeply saddened by the situation created by the big mining companies in the area. The day-to-day struggle of the people living there to safeguard the forests and the waterfall inspired me to initiate this discussion among school children.”

Lipika is currently shooting a documentary on puppeteers of Odisha .