Jan 03 2026 to Jan 03 2026 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

23 minutes | English | 2025 | India

When we decide what is worth protecting, who gets left behind?

Land of the Blackbuck turns its gaze toward India’s grasslands: vast, open ecosystems long dismissed as “wastelands,” and quietly pushed to the margins of conservation thought. This documentary reveals the cost of this misnaming. Not only is the survival of species such as the blackbuck, caracal, and great Indian bustard at risk, but also a deeper understanding of how life persists in these seemingly spare terrains.

Moving beyond wildlife portraiture, the film traces the intricate web of life sustained by grasslands, weaving together ecological science, lived knowledge, and cultural memory. Through voices of local communities, researchers, and conservationists, it challenges the hierarchy of what is deemed worthy of care, asking what happens when we fail to protect what is not glorified.

This film is a mark of the wider movement calling for attention, humility, and responsibility toward ecosystems that quietly sustain us all.

The screening is followed by a conversation with filmmaker Sumanth Kuduvalli and behavioural ecologist Kavita Isvaran, concluding with an audience Q&A.

Speakers

Sumanth Kuduvalli
Filmmaker & Conservation Storyteller
Sumanth Kuduvalli is an award-winning natural history filmmaker, the founder of Trailing Wild Productions, and the Managing Trustee of the Reach Wild Foundation. Based in India, he supports grassroots conservation initiatives and is actively engaged in building shared infrastructure for climate storytelling in the country. His work is grounded in the belief that visual narratives can shift perspectives, foster responsibility, and build collective momentum toward protecting the planet. His body of work includes the first comprehensive visual documentation of the Sangai, or “Dancing Deer,” in Manipur’s Keibul Lamjao National Park, a series of films on the biodiversity and indigenous communities of the Western Ghats for the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, and contributions to Wild Karnataka and the award-winning film The Naga Pride.

Kavita Isvaran
Behavioural Ecologist & Professor, IISc Bengaluru
Prof. Kavita Isvaran is a behavioural ecologist and a faculty member at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science. Her research explores how animals navigate shared challenges in diverse ways, including avoiding predators, choosing mates, and investing in offspring, and how complex conditions in the wild shape behavioural diversity and life histories. Working primarily with wild populations, her lab studies mating systems in blackbuck antelope and the reproductive strategies and personalities of rock lizards. She also conducts large-scale comparative analyses of sexual selection across species. Beyond fundamental research, she applies behavioural ecology to conservation, examining decision-making in endangered antelope, adaptive strategies in mosquitoes, and butterfly community ecology.