New Delhi: Stream-Story, a film by acclaimed filmmaker Amit Dutta, has been awarded the Mention Spéciale – Prix du Patrimoine Culturel Immatériel 2025 (Special Mention – Intangible Cultural Heritage Award 2025) at Cinéma du Réel, one of the world’s most prestigious international documentary film festivals.

Sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture’s Direction Générale des Patrimoines et de l’Architecture, this award recognizes cinematic works that safeguard and celebrate the living practices and knowledge systems defining humanity’s intangible cultural heritage.

Produced by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Stream-Story offers a deeply meditative exploration of kuhl—the ancient water channels of Himachal Pradesh. Through evocative imagery and rich storytelling, the film not only documents these intricate irrigation systems but also highlights their deep-rooted cosmology, oral traditions, and community-driven conservation efforts.

“This recognition at Cinéma du Réel is a testament to Amit Dutta’s unique ability to bring India’s lesser-known cultural and ecological traditions to global attention,” the IGNCA said in a statement.

Alongside the film, Dutta has also authored a companion book, published by the IGNCA, expanding on the themes of the documentary through history, mythology, and field research. Together, the film and book form a profound exploration of water management, oral traditions, and humanity’s philosophical relationship with nature.

With Stream-Story, Amit Dutta reaffirms cinema’s potential as more than just documentation—transforming it into an artistic and intellectual engagement with cultural memory.

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