Yalamaya Kendra is hosting a documentary screening as part of its ongoing ‘Plurality of Nature, Legal Activism, and Peace in the Anthropocene’ event series today at Patan Dhoka. The session will feature two 25-minute documentaries—‘Marshyangdi Wile Ri’iba’ (Nepal) and ‘Aty Seikuinduwa’ (Colombia), produced as part of the European Research Council-RIVERS project.

These films explore the pressing question of how non-human entities, such as rivers, forests, and other natural elements, can be incorporated into legal and political frameworks. They highlight the intersections of Indigenous knowledge systems and state-driven legal structures, examining how current legal systems often fail to recognise the agency of the natural world.

A roundtable discussion is also scheduled to follow the screenings, featuring Shankar Limbu, a human rights attorney, and Dipak Gyawali, academician of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). The panel will explore the challenges Indigenous communities face in safeguarding their land, knowledge, and ecosystems within the existing legal frameworks.

According to Lieselotte Viaene, who produced the documentaries, “Our objective is to present an audiovisual journey that not only portrays struggles across different regions but also inspires our audience.”

Blending six years of academic research with visual storytelling, the films use interviews and observational footage. The event starts at 3:00 pm.