Parvat, Purohit, Putra

SynopsisA short Himalayan documentary on the metaphysics and morality of risk in the face of socio-environmental change. Set in one of India’s most sacred and geologically fragile mountain landscapes, the film brings alive the everyday experiences, beliefs and hopes of a priest, his wife, and their 22-year-old son who survived a great flood not long ago. Through their story, we explore a traditional society’s understanding of its own vulnerability and resilience in the face of dramatic environmental change on the one hand and the rapid intrusion of modernity, urbanism and consumerism on the other.

Vaibhav Kaul is a young, socially committed mountain geographer, visual artist, and wandering poet from India. His academic interests range from glacial geomorphology to ethnomusicology. A University of Oxford Environmental Change and Management postgraduate, he is currently researching disaster risk in changing high-mountain environments as a doctoral student at the University of Sheffield. John Seddon is a young British cinematographer and film director. His passion for culture, story and aesthetics has taken him across the globe – from ethnic minority farming communities in China to concrete jungles in São Paulo. A University of York Film and TV Production graduate, he has worked in prime time television drama with commercial production firms, on the ground with charities, and as a freelance photographer, graphic designer and self-shooting filmmaker.