Bhamati Sivapalan

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Explorations will trace the collective memories of the erstwhile dwellers of the town of Old Tehri which went under water after the construction of a dam, through science/ speculative fiction and storyboarding. Bhamati Sivapalan is the Coordinator for this project. 

Bhamati Sivapalan is a Bangalore-based filmmaker and editor, who completed her MA in Mass Communication from AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi in 2010. She was trained in Journalism during her BA at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi. She served as a guest faculty of editing in the Creative Documentary Course at Sri Aurobindo College of Arts and Communications from 2016 to 2019. She was the co-producer and editor of the feature length documentary film Ek Tha Gaon directed by Shristi Lakhera which was selected in the Media Library of Vision du Reel, Nyon, Switzerland. Given her experience, she is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.

This project will dive into the cultural wound left by the submerged Old Tehri town, in Uttarakhand, which was the citadel of the erstwhile Garhwal Kingdom. The old town, where many communities lived in close proximity went under water after the construction of the Tehri Dam. The Project Coordinator will research into the history of the Garhwal region, policy documents of the construction of the dam, and the documents on the protests and struggle that happened against the dam, which will lead to the writing of this science/ speculative fiction, and the creation of a storyboard. This will be a journey towards graphic storytelling by fictionalising numerous lived experiences of the old town dwellers. The project aims to manifest this history of loss of this region and the memories associated with it into a universal story of trauma that transcends generations when the juggernaut of development arrives at our doorstep. 

The outcome of the project will be this science/ speculative fiction, along with the storyboard for eventual development as an illustrated narrative. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA with the final report will be the script of the speculative fiction and a soft copy of the storyboard. 

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice programme in the manner in which it attempts to trace the emotions of the collective memory of an underwater ghost town, in the wake of the monstrous ambitions of the industrial nation-state. This infrastructural takeover has submerged not only the natural habitat but also the shared lived experiences of many town dwellers who lost their ancestral living spaces. 

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.

This project is made possible with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund.