7 Minifilms and each of them with a succint message, produced by the awarded indian filmmaker Amar Kanwar with support from FES.

• Recognize the Signature of Our Commons!
• Recognize the Reciprocity of Our Commons! (don’t quit get this one —)
• Recognize that Our Commons are a Web of Life! This is my summary, but in fact: Common Property Resources contributed about 5 Billion USD annually to the income of poor indian households in 2009. This is the equivalent to 33% of Indias total rural development budget in ’09-
• Recognize Our Unique Relationship with the Commons! Not Open, Not Closed. Not Private, Not Public. Not Government, Not Business. Not Communist, Not Commercial.  Not Yours, Not Mine.
• Recognize the True Value of Our Commons! Because: If we relate to nature only within the vocabulary of profit, then it is certain to be destroyed. (That’s an excellent way of putting it.)
• Recognize the Shared Ownership of Our Commons! Instead: 126 patents have been granted to companies worldwide for using the medicinal property of the neem tree. -> Who owns the traditional medicinal knowledge?
• Folk Music is Collectively Owned by the Community. -> Recognize These Communities in Our Commons! This story is a little bit more complex; in short (and with links): Nimbooda. which means lemon in Marwari, is an old love song from Rhajastan, part of the tradition of passing on songs from generation to generation. The famous traditional singer Ghazi Khan composed this song when he was a boy, 15 years old, and obviously didn’t consider it „his property“. In 1999 the lyrics and theme were copied and recomposed for a blockbuster (sth like this); Ghazi Khan and the Manganyiars didn’t receive a penny. Quit the contrary, Ghazi Khan is now legally obliged to pay royality and seek permission to a Bollywood Film Music Company to perform his own song from.

In short: Recognize the Commons. That simple.

B E A U T I F U L! I mean the short films, not the stories they’re telling, watch them here and share.

[TNX to T.M.]