Varun Ram Kurtkoti | India | 26 mins | 2018

A poetic exploration of Dharwad, a city split between two narratives of identity: One that hails the city as the cultural capital and home to literary and musical greats of Karnataka, while the other that calls for a complete transformation of the city into an industrial, 'smart' city. Located as the cusp of western ghats and the arid 'bayalu' or North Karnataka, the city's representation is changing from the tune of culture and nature, to a performance to attain the idea of industry. Can a city be so separate from its reality that it is failing to understand its own changing, splitting character? Does the city suffer, feel happy, and reflect on melancholy? This film is a wondering about what nature means in a man-made world. It is an attempt to reconnect those relationships, and bring out the question: Are our memories and roots connected to our homes and towns in more ways than we know?

This film was an official selection for ALT EFF 2020