The stories of women living along diverse landscapes of Odisha’s 480 km coastline are that of coping with their circumstances and of struggles of survival. Confronting not just an overall scenario of depleting fish catch and unsustainable fisheries, women located along biodiversity rich habitats also have to contend with the fickleness of legal conservation restrictions which have dealt a severe blow to their livelihoods and way of life. Chronicles of Oblivion, directed by journalist and filmmaker Priyanjana Dutta, unearths the impacts of sea turtle conservation seen through the eyes of women fishworkers of Odisha. These women’s stories guide the narrative of the film revealing the unequal and invisible world of women fishworkers from Kendrapara and Ganjam, and the unaccounted labour of simultaneously coping with conservation and development impacts.
Funded by the Duleep Matthai Nature Conservation Trust, and produced by Dakshin Foundation, this short film won the Livelihoods Award and the Best Editing Award at the CMS Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival and Forum, 2014.
Watch the movie on Dakshin’s Youtube channel: here