The traditional folk songs of the Sonowal Kachari tribe are being remixed the modern way in recording studios in the city leaving the members of the kachari tribe in the village, worried about the future of their cultural identity. The community has been recently exposed to the internet and the village is undergoing rapid transformation.

Will the next generation be willing to retain the core essence of the history of their community or will they dismiss it in turn for something they can relate to?

Continuing to battle the severe impacts of the global pandemic, folk artists are faced

with an absence of platforms and mechanisms to perform and exhibit their talent. With

rapid changes to recording technologies without adequate support for all, the musicians are battling a constant crisis as they play catch up. The next generation is debating whether folk music is a viable option to sustain themselves and with that, what lies at stake are centuries of collective cultural history.

“Like the flowing river” is one of three films from the documentary series “Sounds from the peripheries ”,  produced by Centre for Media and Alternative Communication and Bhooma, New Delhi, and directed by Neelansh Mittra. It aims to showcase the beauty and meaning behind the music. Acknowledging where the music comes from and in the context within which it was created before it is separated from the artist. 

FESTIVAL SELECTIONS

• 4th Sonica Ekrano Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal, 2025

• 13th Norient Film Festival, Bern, Switzerland, 2024

• 11th Chennai International Documentary and Short Film Festival, 2023

• 16th Edition of the SiGNS Kerala Film Festival, 2023

• 14th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, 2022

• 3rd Indian Documentary Film Festival of Bhubaneswar, 2022