Namsing | Preserving A Tradition

Indian Shorts

Sep 15

Synopsis

The making of Namsing, a fermented fish central to Mising culture, becomes a window into a community’s changing relationship with the land. As Kaziranga expands and floods and erosion reshape access to rivers and forests, the Mising face a shrinking space to live, fish, gather, and hold onto their traditions.

From the filmmaker

Namsing - Preserving a Tradition uses namsing—a traditional fermented fish paste—as an entry point to uncover the intricate relationship between the Mising community and Kaziranga National Park. As top-down park expansion schemes redraw boundaries, local indigenous livelihoods and culinary heritage are routinely marginalized under rigid conservation models. This film reframes conservation beyond the artificial "humans versus nature" divide. By showing how food, forest, and identity are deeply interwoven, we assert a fundamental truth: indigenous communities are not separate from nature—they are an integral part of it.