SUBMERGED
8min/India/2016 VR Documentary
Synopsis
Every year during monsoons, the rivers flowing through Bihar submerge over 60 per cent of the state under water. Since the construction of a spate of dams and barrages across the state in the past few decades, the rivers have started to silt and the spill-over water washes away entire villages. In most cases without any warning. In July 2016, in the wake of rising water levels, panicking villagers cut away a portion of a mud dam, leading to a torrential burst of water that inundated hundreds of villages downstream. With houses and crops destroyed, the film moves through the submerged landscape of the people affected by the most devastating flood in Bihar since 2008. Repeated disasters leave people here to live with lower incomes perennially.
Director: Nishtha Jain
Cinematography: Rohan Raut
Editor: Abhinav Tyagi
Creative Director: Zain Menon
Produced by ELse VR, Memesys Culture Lab
"One of best uses of 360 video was Submerged, which documents the aftermath of a flood in India. Directed by Nishtha Jain and shown in Canada for the first time, the video follows a crew during a visit to a community that has been displaced by the high water levels. Fields of crops are underwater, and with little government support, the locals areforced to fend for themselves. One of the most telling scenes is when one of the interviewers asks about the lake that they’re floating across in the video."
- The Shelf on Fivars, Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories
