Amur falcons are among the strongest fliers in the avian world. Since the last 25 years, they have been migrating to the Northeast especially Nagaland from Siberia en route to their final destination—Somalia, Kenya and South Africa.
In 2013, the researchers estimated that between 1,20,000 and 1,40,000 Amur falcons were being trapped and killed for human consumption in the Nagaland and the Wokha districts every year.
It is thanks to the tireless efforts of wildlife conservationists, NGOs and the government that the village hunters gave up hunting and the community resorted to bird conservation.
The film, “The Naga Pride” by Sumanth Kuduvalli is a community conservation documentary around the annual migratory birds Amur falcons and the hunting tribes of Nagaland. It showcases the transformation of these hunters to protectors and deals with the effect of climate change on wildlife in general and Amur falcons in particular.
The film was one among the selected documentary films that were screened during the eighth edition of Quotes from the Earth--an Environmental Film Festival 2018 held at New Delhi from December 6-8. The film festival was organised by Toxics Link and India International Centre with support from the Swedish Society For Nature Conservation.
About the filmmaker
In 2012, Sumanth Kuduvalli started his journey as a wildlife filmmaker. Apart from filmmaking, he volunteers in many wildlife conservation activities.