The budding filmmakers at Voices From The Water, the 8th edition of the International Travelling Film Festival on Water held in Bangalore. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 2: Three young filmmakers from Odisha had their debut films screened at the recently concluded Voices From The Water, the 8th edition of the International Travelling Film Festival on Water held in Bangalore.

The festival featured 45 films from about 15 countries. All the films showcased various dimensions of the worldwide water crisis and challenges emerging because of it.

Rajesh Achary showcased a couple of short films — Bhoot Vani and Water For All — while Twinkle Pattnaik’s Water is Life, a musical documentary, and Poonascha Priyadarshi’s Pattangi were also screened.

The duration of the films ranged between five and 10 minutes.

The films were made last year when the youngsters were taken to different villages in Ganjam. The youngsters had then taken a 10-day crash course in documentary filmmaking from Luc Cote, a Canadian filmmaker.

“The orientation developed our skills and the exposure opened our eyes to the different facets of rural life, especially the problems villagers are facing because of water scarcity and poor sanitary conditions,” said Rajesh, who hails from Berhampur and loves to add elements of fiction to his films by asking villagers to enact roles.

One Drop, a social organisation that is running an all-India project, arranged for the training and other expenses of the young filmmakers.

Twinkle blended the rustic sound of kirtan with her visuals. “Since I was not expecting anything, it turned out to be a surprise that our films were screened on such a platform. The attendance at the festival was overwhelming,” said the 25-year-old shutterbug.

Poonascha Priyadarshi loves to be involved in creative projects and got new insights into rural life.

“My project opened my eyes to the great many problems plaguing villagers and I would surely like to explore them in my subsequent ventures,” said the 28-year-old aspiring advertising filmmaker. Poonascha’s film was based on peripheral water problems.

“We are delighted that the One Drop project has been able to provide the right platform to these young and budding first timers. We want to take it forward,” said Pragyan Bharati, a representative of One Drop’s India project.

The organisation works on water issues and has been collaborating with Odisha-based partners such as Bakul Foundation, Gram Vikas and Natya Chetana to promote art based interventions to raise awareness and improve access to water and sanitation in rural parts of the state.

The youngsters also had interesting anecdotes to share. They said that during a public screening, the villagers said they would prefer to watch their documentaries instead of mainstream films as they could identify more readily with the characters on screen.

Organisers of the festival hoped that such endeavours would usher in positive change in the water and sanitation scenario of the country.