Moti Bagh: Documentary on Indian farmer’s life nominated for Oscars

Moti Bagh: Moti Bagh, a documentary based on a Uttarakhand farmer’s life has been nominated for the Oscars. The documentary film, directed by Nirmal Chander is based on the life of a farmer called Vidyadutt, who belongs to a remote village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal region.

The information was shared by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on September 17, 2019. CM Trivendra Singh Rawat congratulated the director of the film, Nirmal Chander Dandriyal, saying that the film will inspire the village youth to stay in their villages and contribute to their communities. The Chief Minister said that the film will help stop migrations from remote areas.

The Chief Minister also appealed to young farmers to play a leading role in preventing migration from villages and take advantage of the schemes launched by the state government.

Moti Bagh: About the documentary

Moti Bagh is a documentary film that is based on the life of Vidyadutt, a farmer from a remote village in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand and it shows how the 83-year-old struggles to keep his farm alive and till the uninhabited hilly lands.

The film throws light on the issue of migration of people from villages, especially from the remote villages in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand. It highlights how Uttarakhand has witnessed migration in disturbing proportions, with villages after villages lying empty and no one to till the land.

The film also covers Nepali farmers, who settled in the region to plug in the gap and faced discrimination at the same time with locals calling them names like Nepali and Bahadur. However, the film highlights how these Nepali farmers are feeding the whole Uttarakhand.

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