Goa’s rich heritage and its push for sustainability will come alive on screen later this month. On 28 September, the Heritage for Sustainability Film Festival will present 13 films and documentaries at the ESG complex in Panaji. Curated by Heta Pandit, a writer, conservationist, and director of the Heritage First Goa, a non-profit promoting Goa’s cultural, natural, and architectural heritage, the one-day festival is supported by tourism bodies TTAG and SKAL. Endorsed by Goa Tourism, it will conclude the state’s World Tourism Day celebrations with stories of ecology, memory, and belonging.
What was the inspiration behind curating the Heritage for Sustainability Film Festival?
Over some time now filmmakers have been sending us their films on Goa’s natural heritage and village life. We have been conducting heritage walks and workshops over the last year. We also did a series where we walk with a Goan icon, a legend, through their home and village, reflecting on childhood. This festival is a natural progression of the same showcase. Some films speak of the delicate balance and dangers these vital elements of our culture face, while others are plain statements of a fast-changing scenario.
How did you select the films and filmmakers, and what common thread runs through the 13 works being showcased?
The common thread is the wealth of Goan heritage that we hold in our hands and memories. Films were chosen to align with the theme of ‘Heritage for Sustainability.’ The underlying message is that heritage and sustainability go hand in hand, one cannot exist without the other. If you want to protect something, you must love it, and to love it, you must first know it. This festival is an exercise in getting to know our heritage better.
This festival is the culmination of Goa Tourism’s World Tourism Day celebrations. How do you see cinema adding to the conversation on heritage and sustainability?
Cinema, short films, documentaries, these are powerful tools to tell stories. A festival like this brings together filmmakers who bond over the shared goal of protecting our heritage. By collaborating with the Travel and Tourism association of Goa (TTAG), SKAL International and Goa Tourism, we are amplifying this message and placing it at the heart of Goa’s tourism narrative.
What role do you believe Goan filmmakers can play in shaping public awareness about culture, ecology, and belonging?
Awareness is not a one-day wonder. It takes time for an idea to percolate. Sometimes the truth dawns in a moment, sometimes it takes decades. Our role is to keep trying, with everything in our power and means. If our hearts are in the right place, we can move others, however indifferent they may seem from afar.
What message does the collaboration with TTAG, SKAL International, and Goa Tourism convey?
Goa attracts lakhs of tourists, yet very few leave with an understanding of what Goa truly is. Many still see it only as a party destination. Through this collaboration, perhaps we can change that perception, and show Goa as a land of heritage, culture, and sustainability.
As the Heritage for Sustainability Film Festival prepares to light up the screen, it promises more than cinema, it is a reflection, a conversation, and an invitation to rediscover Goa. For Heta Pandit and the organising team, the festival is not only about showcasing films but also about reshaping narratives of belonging and responsibility.
In her words: “If you want to protect something, you must love it. And to love it, you must know it.”
