TECH. ARTS. COMMUNITY.
Nabina Chakraborty
Filmmaker, Communicator and Storyteller
Nabina Chakravorty is a filmmaker and video producer with a master's degree in Mass Communication and a passion for media, ecology, and sociology. With almost six years of experience in documentary filmmaking and development communication, she specialises in translating complex ideas into engaging audio-visual narratives. Currently, as a Senior Communications Associate at WELL Labs, she works at the intersection of science, communication, and visual storytelling. She produces videos for the organisation and creates project deliverables across various verticals within WELL Labs.
Challenges
10
Keepers of the Bees
For this challenge, we had invited the fellows to bring their final projects to life through the powerful mediums of either a short film or a graphic novel. Nabina’s short film Keepers of the Bees follows Durga, a forest-dwelling beekeeper in Araku Valley, and her young son Aarav as they protect the last living hives. By the late 2100s, scientist Dr. Elara Voss developed robotic bees - RoBees to replace what humanity has destroyed. Aarav continues his mother’s legacy, working alongside RoBees to restore nature’s balance. Spanning generations, the story is a journey of memories, resilience, and the many ways people fight to heal a fragile world.
9
For challenge 9, the fellows presented a pitch deck of their visual narratives. These narratives, set in 2050, address a conflict in an ideal future and its resolution. The pitch will serve as a storyboard for the final project, presented as either a short film or graphic novel. Nabina’s pitch Durga is about a forest beekeeper who is the quiet guardian of Araku. She is 50 and carries the wisdom of generations. Her devotion towards the forest and its flora and fauna is commendable.
8
Challenge 8 was a fun exercise in which the fellows generated interactive AI personas using the Gooey.AI copilot tool. Nabina’s bot is named Aarav Sen who is an ecologist and also known as the last beekeeper on Earth. He documents the remnants of natural bee colonies. As a second-generation forest ecologist, he was raised among the hives which his mother tended with care.
6
For this challenge, we wanted the fellows to create supporting characters that would inhabit their envisioned future world. Nabina created the supporting character of Dr. Sarah Voss, the lead scientist building RoBee. In the early 2000s, she was among those who didn’t believe in climate change. But as time passed and things took a turn for the worse, she sought redemption by working not to replace bees- but to protect the last whispers of life. She knows technology can’t restore nature, but maybe, just maybe, it can give her one last chance to serve it.
5
Fellows developed characters who would live in their imagined future worlds. Nabina explored the character of RoBee—a robotic pollinator.
4
For this challenge, we wanted fellows to continue building on their explored futures, focusing on world building. We wanted them to visualise it as the opening scene of a sci-fi film, where the focus is on the setting rather than the characters. 5 to 6 frames were created using Gooey's Animation Generator in draft mode (2 FPS). Nabina built an animation of Bengaluru’s golf park which would serve as a botanical park in the year 2050.
3
For this challenge, we had asked the fellows to illustrate their peers’ predictions for the future. Nabina illustrated the prediction that Bengaluru city will be hotter, water-scarce, and more disaster-prone in 2050. This will push people towards climate-adaptive housing and water-efficient living.
2
We asked the fellows to explore what the future would look like. We also asked them to forecast a series of predictions for the next few years, with a timeline of no more than 25 years ahead. Nabina made the following predictions about the future. Cities will be hotter, water-scarce, and more disaster-prone, pushing people towards climate-adaptive housing and water-efficient living. Work will be fluid and AI-augmented, with real-world jobs increasingly intertwined with digital and virtual economies. Nationalism will rise, with stricter immigration policies and digital censorship. China-led and US-led tech ecosystems may lead to a split internet, restricting global media access. New regional power centres (India, Southeast Asia, Africa) will challenge Western cultural dominance, bringing diverse narratives to the mainstream.
