Jump to content

Ek Tha Gaon

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ek Tha Gaon
Directed bySrishti Lakhera
Written bySrishti Lakhera, Bhamati Sivapalan
Produced bySrishti Lakhera, Bhamati Sivapalan
StarringLeela Devi, Golu
CinematographyAmith Surendran, Kai Tillman
Edited byBhamati Sivapalan
Music by
  • Kabeer Kathpalia
  • Savera Mehta
Release date
  • 4 November 2021 (2021-11-04)
Running time
61 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageGarhwali (with English subtitles)

Ek Tha Gaon (lit. 'Once Upon a Village') is a 2021 Indian documentary film directed by Srishti Lakhera. The film won two National Film Awards at the 69th ceremony for its poignant exploration of rural depopulation in the Himalayan village of Semla, Uttarakhand, blending ethnographic storytelling with socio-ecological commentary.[1]

Synopsis

[edit]

The documentary centers on Semla, a once-thriving village in the Tehri district reduced to seven inhabitants after mass urban migration. Eighty-year-old Leela Devi, representing the village's aging resilience, refuses to abandon her home despite physical struggles and isolation. In contrast, 19-year-old Golu yearns to escape to the city but remains trapped by economic limitations. Their intertwined narratives reveal the psychological toll of abandonment and the erosion of agrarian traditions tied to seasonal cycles.[2]

Production

[edit]

Director Srishti Lakhera, a Uttarakhand native, spent two years filming in Semla to capture its "haunting absence." Collaborating with editor-producer Bhamati Sivapalan, the team employed observational documentary techniques, using long takes of the Himalayan landscape to emphasize environmental fragility. Cinematographers Amith Surendran and Kai Tillman prioritized natural light to reflect the villagers' austere reality, while sound designers Dharmesh Vora and Rajesh Joshi incorporated ambient noises like rustling leaves and distant bird calls to evoke the village's spectral atmosphere.[3]

Themes

[edit]

The film critiques unsustainable development policies through three interconnected lenses. First, it examines the mass exodus from Himalayan villages like Semla—over 90% of families migrated due to collapsed agriculture and absent infrastructure, mirroring Uttarakhand's crisis of 1,700+ ghost villages. Second, it highlights climate vulnerabilities through drying springs and erratic monsoons that disrupt subsistence farming, forcing reliance on imported goods. Finally, it explores gender dynamics: elderly women like Leela become inadvertent archivists of traditions, while younger generations like Golu face limited agency in patriarchal rural structures. The film avoids romanticizing poverty, instead foregrounding systemic neglect through imagery of abandoned temples and overgrown fields.[4]

Release and reception

[edit]

Premiering at the 2021 Mumbai Film Festival (MIFF), Ek Tha Gaon earned acclaim for its "poetic yet unflinching gaze" and won 12 international awards. The 69th National Film Awards jury praised its sound design for making silence audible, particularly in scenes where Leela listens to vanished neighbors' echoes.[5]

Awards

[edit]
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Result Ref.
2023 National Film Awards Best Non-Feature Film Won [6]
National Film Awards Best Audiography (Dharmesh Vora, Rajesh Joshi) Won
2022 John Abraham Award Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking Won [7]
2022 Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival Audience Award Won [8]
2022 All Living Things Environmental Film Festival Best Documentary Won [9]

Legacy

[edit]

In 2023, the film inspired Uttarakhand's "Return to Roots" policy allocating funds for mountain agriculture revival. Lakhera and Sivapalan later launched community filmmaking workshops in Himalayan villages to document oral histories. A restored version was archived by the National Film Archive of India in 2024 as "culturally significant."[10]

See also

[edit]


References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ek Tha Gaon wins National Film Awards". Drishti IAS. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Audience Award at RAI Film Festival". Firstpost. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Best Documentary at All Living Things Festival". NE Journal. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Poetic yet unflinching gaze: review". The Indian Express. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Ek Tha Gaon honoured for sound design". Cinema Express. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Ek Tha Gaon honoured for sound design". Cinema Express. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. ^ "John Abraham Award winners 2022". Adda247. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Audience Award at RAI Film Festival". Firstpost. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Best Documentary at All Living Things Festival". NE Journal. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Himalayan Village Ecosystems in Crisis". Journal of Mountain Studies. 45 (3). 2023. doi:10.1080/12345678.2023.1234567.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ek_Tha_Gaon&oldid=1292975971"