Cinema Meets Climate: “Against the Tide” Cinema Screening Sets the Tone for Mumbai Climate Week 2026

POSTED BY : MRUNALI SAKPAL DT. 16/02/2026 📞  8850212023

MUMBAI RMN.IN(E): As Mumbai Climate Week 2026 builds momentum across the city, India’s first citizen-led climate platform brought an innovative cinema-and-exhibition experience to the World Trade Center’s Peacock Room with a special presentation of Against the Tide, designed as both film screening and installation from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM.  

The programme invited audiences to move between the moving image and still frames, encountering climate storytelling as a spatial experience where observation begins to carry the weight of responsibility.

 “Against the Tide is a film that I started in 2017 and it makes me really happy when people choose to come in the middle of the week to watch it,” said director Sarvnik Kaur. “Events and platforms like Mumbai Climate Week are important because they bring together experts and a wider community, rich and poor, to share stories, see how differently lives are lived, and recognize that the pursuit isn’t just profit but a more interconnected way of life.” ​

 Conceived as more than a screening, ATT was presented as a linear exhibition of images—a continuum of fragments that resist erasure and celebrate moments of continuation. Visitors moved between documentation and embodiment, engaging with questions at the core of the project: What does it mean to stay with an image? How does looking become an act of care? When does documentation become responsibility?

Priya Pansare, Director- Trade & Investment Promotion, World Trade Center added, “World Trade Center Mumbai has always been at the forefront of ecological responsibility, and we are proud to be among the city’s first green buildings. As our Chairman, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, has consistently emphasised, sustainability must be embedded into how institutions think, build, and lead. Partnering with Mumbai Climate Week felt like a natural extension of that commitment. We are pleased to host their events, including today’s film screenings and the Against The Tide photo exhibition. Initiatives like these spark meaningful conversations and inspire collective action, and we are glad to support that effort.”

The afternoon created a meeting ground for filmmakers, cultural practitioners, climate and social justice advocates, students and members of the public, with conversations extending beyond the film to the evolving role of documentary practice in shaping collective memory and responsibility.

 The session featured a discussion with director Sarvnik Kaur and Sangita Kapoor (Design Consultant and Director, Blue Planet), reflecting on how long-term, ethics-led storytelling can hold together questions of land, identity, climate and community.

 This World Trade Center showcase is part of a series of city events through which Mumbai Climate Week is engaging citizens ahead of its three-day hub at the Jio World Convention Centre from February 17–19, 2026.

 Earlier activities have included climate-focused film screenings, discussions and community gatherings, with more culture, youth, and neighborhood programmes planned in the days ahead to keep climate conversations active across Mumbai.

About ATT

ATT is conceived as more than a screening. It is a spatial experience. The exhibition format situates the film within a continuum of images — fragments of time that resist erasure. Each frame is placed deliberately, tracing a journey of impact and momentum-building through 2025 and beyond.

The project interrogates what it means to witness in a time of fracture. It asks:

What does it mean to stay with an image?

How does looking become an act of care?

When does documentation become responsibility?

Through its formal structure, ATT blurs the boundaries between cinema and installation, encouraging audiences to engage physically, emotionally, and politically with the material.

About Mumbai Climate Week

Scheduled from February 17 to 19, 2026, at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai Climate Week will be more than a three-day event. Its impact will be extended through preparatory activities before and synthesis efforts after the main conference, including workshops, case studies, films, testimonials, and follow-up reports. By mobilizing India’s vibrant network of climate-focused organizations and movements, it will highlight the nation’s pioneering efforts in climate action while charting a bold path forward. Conceptualised & initiated by Project Mumbai, a citizen-driven non-profit founded in 2018, and, in partnership with Government of Maharashtra’s Department of Environment and Climate Change, and supported by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, MCW reflects the vision of a dynamic megacity from the Global South stepping into a role of global climate leadership

About Project Mumbai

Project Mumbai, founded in 2018 by a former renowned journalist and social entrepreneur Shishir Joshi, is a pioneering not-for-profit initiative that works as a trusted bridge between citizens, government, and private institutions to co-create solutions for the city’s most pressing challenges. With a focus on participatory governance, community engagement, and public service, Project Mumbai has consistently mobilized people and partnerships to deliver impact at scale—from mental health initiatives and waste management drives to urban mobility solutions and disaster relief. Its citizen-centric model has earned recognition nationally and internationally as an example of collaborative problem-solving rooted in transparency, trust, and accountability