The pace with which events overtake documentation efforts can be quite a challenge when making films on evolving issues. The Aarey metro car shed project in Maharashtra has taken several twists and turns, with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government finding alternative land for the project to save the forestland. The Eknath Shinde government which took charge after that reversed this decision. Within a month, the Supreme Court stayed tree-felling in the Aarey forests until it takes up a petition filed by environmental activists challenging the project.
In Miriam Chandy Menacherry's documentary The Leopard's Tribe, being screened in the short documentary competition category at the 14th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK), the events till the very recent Supreme Court order are captured, making it almost as updated as a news report. Yet, it has not lost the rooted feeling that comes with a long documentation effort, which can only be achieved by spending a considerable chunk of time in that space. The documentary thus becomes more than a mere chronicle of the protests.
