Reflect

Michelle Poonawalla’s film Reflect explores ongoing climatic changes as both a local and intensely global problem. 

If current trends continue, by the end of the century, wet bulb temperatures across many South Asian cities – a combined measure of heat and humidity – will reach points at which the human body can not survive for more than six hours. Combined with ongoing issues of food security, lost livelihoods and population displacement this can only further divide societies.  

As cities increasingly push to modernise and develop new unconscious infrastructure, this both accelerates the effects of climate change and widens the gaps between those capable of coping with changes and those who can’t.

Reflect aims to highlight both rural and urban South Asian societies, drawing reference to their interconnectedness and the damage they can cause to each other. As Mumbai commuters climb the steps at a local station they further push farmers into food insecurity, as a factory belches out smoke both urban and rural communities have to wade across swollen rivers and flooded city streets alike. 

South Asia sits at the cusp of a climate disaster further driving rifts and divides within a community. As the damage of climate change further pushes societies apart the larger interconnected aspects of climate, nature, and ecosystems becomes clearer.