Roots Renewed

Synopsis

Produced with the support of the World Bank and documenting work carried out under the Meghalaya Community-Led Landscape Management Project, Roots Renewed is a documentary set across multiple locations in rural Meghalaya. The film charts intimate chapters from the lives of its rural inhabitants as communities work to restore their landscapes and revive traditional stewardship of the environment.

The documentary brings together the voices of farmers, women, youth, community leaders, field practitioners, and individuals across the Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo Hills regions of the state. Through their own words and actions, the film observes how communities respond to environmental stress, reviving traditional land practices, restoring forests and water systems, and adopting simple, sustainable solutions rooted in local knowledge, while aligning these efforts with institutionally supported initiatives. 

Shot with minimal intervention and edited to preserve the natural rhythm of voices and moments recorded, Roots Renewed does not explain or instruct. Instead, it listens. By placing people and landscapes at the centre of the narrative, the film quietly documents a collective effort to care for land that sustains both livelihood and culture. 

Patient in its pace, the documentary reflects on existing challenges and the gradual coming together of people’s emotions, perspectives, and actions as they move toward collective stewardship. Roots Renewed ultimately stands as a record of community-led change and the enduring relationship between people and their land.