REQUIEM FOR A RIVER

Synopsis

Requiem for a River explores the contrasting realities of the Sabarmati Riverfront—a space shaped by leisure, beauty, and urban progress, while beyond its polished edges lies a neglected and deteriorating river. Through an observational gaze, the film moves from the carefully developed riverfront, where people gather, walk, and exercise, towards the polluted stretches beyond Vasna Barrage, gradually revealing the environmental reality beneath the city’s curated image. As the riverfront ends, the film encounters landscapes marked by industrial pollution, waste, sand mining, and neglect around Gyaspur, Narol, and Vatva. Through observations and voices from both sides of the river, the documentary reflects on the divide between urban beautification and environmental decay, questioning what is made visible, what remains ignored, and who is left to live with what lies beyond the polished image of progress.