Lok Sath (People's Tribunal)

synopsis

The true story of a rural community’s resistance to the building of a coal power plant in Pakistani Punjab, Lok Sath is an experimental short featuring stills, video footage, abstract art and exquisite animations by Iranian artist and filmmaker Neda Ahmadi. Documenting a rare victory for South Asian farmers against the combined forces of state power, international financial institutions and Chinese imperialism, the film recounts a dramatic tale of resistance from the perspective of its protagonists. Offering rare insights into political activism in the Global South, Lok Sath is set against the backdrop of climate change and the Paris COP23 agreement. It tackles social and environmental injustice from the perspective of marginalized and displaced populations.

about the director

Ali Nobil Ahmad is a researcher, journalist, filmmaker and curator with extensive experience in the fields of migration, ecology and media. His second film, Lok Sath, is the second in a trilogy of environmental documentaries on climate change in Pakistan. It was an official selection of Ethnografilm festival in 2019, and has been screened at numerous venues including the Tate Modern and Silent Green in Berlin. Ali was curator of ‘anthropoSCENE’, a festival of films and talks on climate justice at Kino Moviemento in Berlin (2017); co-curator of ‘Jamil Dehlavi: Between the Sacred and the Profane’ at the BFI (2018), and co-curator of ‘Winds of Change: Cinema in Muslim Societies at the ICA (2011).