Through the lives of two extended families, this film tells the story of the Garo in Northeast India. Traditional rice farmers, the Garo hold many unique and diverse varieties of rice, which are now important genetic resources. This film touches on many contemporary issues facing ethnobiology, cultural diversity and conservation work.

Synopsis and Review

The Garo have over the years kept a rich collection of rice varieties. This biological diversity is now an important genetic store for rice worldwide. The film, told exclusively through the voices of the Garo, follows two extended families in the village of Sandolpara as they grapple with survival and change as tradition meets modernity and gives an extensive look at the life and culture of this indigenous community. Traditionally subsistence farmers, the Garo have seen their lives change with the introduction of a road, along with new farming techniques and missionaries. Elders say they are poorer today, “even though we reap the same grain as the grandmothers we are poorer”. There is less fertility, fewer forests, and fewer animals. The Garo are a largely matrilineal culture with land and family passing through the women. Women are the caretakers of the rice. They select which varieties to plant and handle all processing and storage of the rice. Men help plant and manage the fields.

This excellent film manages to touch on a varied array of contemporary issues in ethnobiology today, such as gender, biocultural diversity, conservation and indigenous rights, transmission of traditional knowledge, agricultural diversity, traditional ecological knowledge, and the transition from subsistence to monetary based livelihoods. Other than a brief prologue and epilogue, which emphasises the Garo’s importance to the preservation of agricultural diversity, all the issues are shown rather than described, an approach that is both refreshing and effective. In the end, it is a film that centres on the people themselves more than just the issues facing indigenous cultures today.

Prepared by Erin Smith