Watch this engaging stop-motion short about India's biodiversity

To mark World Biodiversity Day, a newly released stop-animation short film engages with young viewers on the nature of pollination and its role in the planet’s well-being

A conversation about the birds and the bees may sound like the inevitable talk parents have with teenagers. But in the context of climate change and growing ecological challenges, it is a conversation needed in order to understand the role of these pollinators. While it sounds rudimentary, a short film seeks to change this perspective. Sharanya Ramesh’s animated short, Carried With The Pollen that was released on World Biodiversity Day (May 22), highlights the many creatures who enable the process of pollination across the world.

“The film is part of an initiative by the Biodiversity Collaborative in association with the government as well as the Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies that wants to educate people about environmental issues through art,” Mumbai-based Ramesh informs us. The film follows a young Tara, a school girl who daydreams her way into the diverse world of pollinators from birds to bees and mammals. Educative and innovative, it is Alice in Wonderland with an ecological message. 

A still from Carried With The Pollen

Qualified in stop motion animation from the School of Visual Arts, New York, the filmmaker’s craft suited the aesthetic to liven up an otherwise dry subject for children. “The idea was to present all the creatures that are pollinators, in contrast to what we understand to be just bees and flowers. There are so many more than that,” she says. One of the elements is the redemption of a key pollinating agent — bats, unfairly maligned in the recent pandemic, Ramesh adds.

It is often interesting how research and creativity combine. For the filmmaker, this meant changing her approach and knowing when to step back.  The objective, she admits, was to not let her visual ideas hamper the message researchers wished to convey. “My inputs were limited to the suggestions of using a little girl as a protagonist, or using her dreamscape to explore the natural world,” she adds.

Sharanya Ramesh

The stop-motion project spanned a period of three and a half months, involving the filmmaker and her sparse crew of two (an assistant director and a music director). “Stop-motion is a very traditional form of animation. A lot of technology has now come in to make life easier. Easy being a relative word, since it is still quite time-consuming,” the filmmaker laughs.  She tells us to keep an eye on her social media for behind-the-scenes pictures.

In addition to social media, the short film will be shared with schools across the city for its true audience — children. With another collaboration in the works, the filmmaker sounds excited about the opportunity.

Log on to: @BiodiversityCollaborative on Youtube

Nature in short

>> Aboshesh (Remains) (2020)
This animated short tells of the interconnected lives, of people, animals and nature in the Sunderbans, through the perspective of two children who wander into the forest and discover its guardian, Bonbibi. The film outlines the need for ecological coexistence. 
Log on to: @WildlifeTrustofIndia on Youtube

>> Wade (2020) 
Kalp Sanghvi and Upamanyu Bhattacharya’s short won the prestigious Satoshi Kon award for Best Short film, and rightly so. A dystopian tale about Kolkata being rendered unliveable when sea levels rise, it tells of  the predicament of refugees when they come across a stranded tiger on the flooded street.
Log on to: @shortoftheweek on Youtube

>> See Animals (2019)
Scott Wenner’s short is an artistic portrayal of the many species that make Earth an existing paradise. The twist in the ending reminds us why this paradise needs to be protected.
Log on to: @ScottWenner on Vimeo

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