ALT EFF, India’s premier environmental film festival, teams up with Forest Spirit to bring you an incredible weekend getaway in Mukteshwar.

Hike through the deeply rooted forests of Banj oaks, where springs run perennially, creatures feast on abundant acorns, vivid red rhododendrons bloom under the canopy and the calls of white-throated laughing thrushes stand out amongst the cacophony. 

This weekend long, all-inclusive event is a unique blend of cinema, conversation, and time in pristine nature. With just 25 spots, it is limited and intimate. Enjoy film programming spanning the whole weekend alongside guided nature walks, bonfires, music under the stars and discussions on the most pressing environmental issues of our times. 

This exclusive ticket includes stay at the stunning Chirping Orchard resort, food, local transport between activities and all the programmed entertainment listed below. 

Join us for this unique weekend experience and come away refreshed, with new connections, and a novel perspective on today’s pressing environmental issues. 

Participants will be reaching Chirping Orchards(Mukhteshwar) on their own, see details on how to get there below.

Program:

Day 1: Saturday, December 9th

2:00 pm: 

Arrive at Chirping Orchard

5:00 pm: 

Inauguration

6:30 pm :

Film screening: Into the Ice

8:00 pm: 

Discussion

9:00 pm: 

Dinner & bonfire

Day 2: Sunday, December 10th

7:00 am:

Hike to Darmane village, guided by a naturalist

8:00 am:

Breakfast in the village

10:00 am:

Film screening at a Local Residence: We Are Guardians 

11:30 am: 

Discussion in the village and return hiking to Chirping Orchard

1:30 pm:

Lunch at Chirping Orchard

2:30 pm

Film screening: Mhari Topli Ma: Baans Bhamori

Film screening: Between Earth & Sky

Film screening: No Water No Village

4:30 pm:

Discussion on relevant water issues as presented in No Water No Village

6:30 pm:

Chai-Pakoda Session

8:00 pm:

Film screening: Path of the Panther

10:00 pm:

Dinner & Bonfire with Live Music

Day 3: Monday, December 11th

7:00 am: 

Hike to Mukteshwar Temple

9:00 am:

Breakfast

9:30 am: 

Concluding Session with Chief Guest: Akanksha Sood Singh (National Award Winnig Filmmaker)

Program Details:

Into the Ice

{1:30 hours; Lars Ostenfeld}

The Greenland ice sheet harbours a secret. Danish, English; English Subtitles

We Are Guardians

{1:22 hours; Edivan Guajajara, Chelsea Greene, Rob Grobman} INDIA PREMIERE

As the Indigenous forest guardians of the Tenetehara fend off the incessant encroachment of illegal loggers and invaders, a global story erupts entwining science, politics and ultimately the fate of the Amazon rainforest. English, Portuguese; English Subtitles

Mhari Topli: Baans Bhamori 

{13:22 minutes; Laxminarayan Devda, Pradeep Lekhwar} INDIA PREMIERE

The film follows a bunch of people from Ratanpur village foraging for wild oyster mushrooms in the forest by the river Narmada, capturing their deep connection with the abundance and the mysteries of the wild. English Subtitles

Between Earth and Sky

{25:00 minutes; Andrew Nadkarni)

For her entire professional life, renowned ecologist Nalini Nadkarni pioneered climbing techniques to study "what grows back” after an ecological disturbance in the rainforest canopy. Now, after surviving a life-threatening fall from a tree, she must turn her research question onto herself in order to understand the effects of disturbance and recovery throughout her life. English; English Subtitles

No Water No Village

{29 minutes, Munmun Dhalaria}

Can India's highest villages survive without snow? English, Hindi, Tibetan, Urdu; English Subtitles

Path of the Panther

{1:28 hours; Eric Bendick}

Drawn in by the haunting specter of the Florida panther, a wildlife photographer unites veterinarians, ranchers, conservationists, and Indigenous Peoples on the front lines of an accelerating battle between forces of renewal and destruction that have pushed the Everglades to the brink of ecological collapse. English; English Subtitles