🎥 🎞️ Screen Southasia November 2026: The Weight of Water

This month, we’ll be screening The Weight of Water, directed and produced by Neelima Vallangi and Deej Phillips. The film follows three stories that illustrate the human cost of flooding, drought and the broader climate crisis in Nepal, of particular relevance given the glacial floods along the Nepal-Tibet border in August 2026.

Length: 68 minutes

Synopsis

The Weight of Water follows the stories of Kamala, Sushil and Sanchana, revealing the human cost of the climate crisis in Nepal and the complex ways in which climate change-fuelled flooding and drought exacerbates existing societal, economic and infrastructure inequalities. Climate scientists, experts and activists from Nepal provide the necessary context to illustrate how climate change is wreaking havoc – and what is needed from the developed world so Nepal can have a secure future as global warming gathers pace.

Director’s bio: Neelima Vallangi is an independent climate journalist, photographer and documentary filmmaker from India, splitting time between Kathmandu, Nepal and India. Her stories, images and films have been published in The Guardian, Nature Climate Change, Deutsche Welle, Smithsonian.com, Al Jazeera English, BBC, South China Morning Post and The Hindu. With a keen interest in mountain ecosystems and climate change, she specialises in unique stories and in-depth features from the Himalayan region, the Indian subcontinent and Southasia. She has more than 15 years of experience working in the high-altitude Himalaya, and currently builds on that formative experience to deliver impactful stories, media projects, and direct documentary films on the emerging challenges of climate change and the associated environmental and cultural shifts in underreported regions across India and Nepal Himalaya.

Deej Phillips is a documentary filmmaker with over eight years of experience, specialising in capturing cinematic footage to tell compelling personal stories. He shines a light on environmental issues in Southasia, aiming to create meaningful impact through his films. Recently, his focus has been to communicate the human cost of the climate crisis and its urgency through his documentaries. His most recent work is the feature-length climate change documentary ‘The Weight of Water’ filmed in Nepal and released globally on DW TV, and a short film series called "Forced to Adapt". He is passionate about ensuring there is a high level of authenticity in his films and strives to capture stories from an intimate and engaging perspective.

Do you know any visual storytellers looking for a platform to showcase their work about Southasia? If so, we want to hear from you! We’re looking for documentaries, new and old, short and feature-length, to showcase in our programme. If you wish to pitch your film to us, please email editorial@himalmag.com. And stay tuned for more on the documentary we’ll be screening this month!