Andrew Nadkarni is an Oscar-shortlisted filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. His directorial debut, “Between Earth and Sky“, won Best Short at Big Sky and Hot Springs Documentary Film Festivals, and was nominated for two Critics Choice Awards and the Cinema Eye Honors. Following the film’s premiere on POV / PBS, it was shortlisted for the 2024 Academy Awards.
Between Earth and Sky is screening at CAAMFest
After a somewhat dreamy sequence, where the ‘protagonist’, Nalindi Nadkarni, is talking about her past and connection with trees under impressive images from a forest, the camera turns on her in her lab in the university of Utah, and a trip down memory lane. Through her own words and footage of her connection with trees, along with activities she undertakes to promote their presentation, as in a symposium for women of forestry, Nadkarni creates a rather thorough portrait of both the human and the scientist.
And whether the interest regarding the concept of tree examination and preservation may vary according to the viewer, when the focus turns towards Nalindi’s life, the documentary definitely picks up, with drama becoming the main component here. In that fashion, the story of her accident, when she fell from a tree and had four operations in four days, emerges as quite shocking, even more so, since she seems to have overcome it even continuing climbing to trees to this day. Even more so, when the narration turns towards her family and a story about the blights of patriarchy turns into a case of child molestation, is where the documentary finds its apogee.
Evidently, though, the Nakarnis did not want the focus to remain on those events, and the narrative focus soon turns back to trees and Nalindi’s work, with an examination of a fallen tree along with her field assistant, presented as also something quite dramatic.
Apart from the dramatic moments, “Between Earth and Sky” definitely benefits from the charisma of its protagonist, with Nalindi essentially acting like a kid around trees, in an aspect that is definitely appealing, as it eloquently communicates her love for what she is doing. Truth is that when the focus goes away from her (and her past) the interest somewhat deteriorates, but the sum of the different elements here is definitely on the plus side.
DPs Joe Wan Eeckhout and Derek Knowles capture the various locations and particularly the forest with artistry, with the overall visuals of the documentary definitely being impressive. Peter Zachwieja’s editing implements a relatively fast pace that mirrors Nalindi’s demeanor, while the succession of different cinematic elements (interviews, current and past footage etc) works nicely.
Between Earth and Sky is an interesting documentary that picks in its dramatic premises, while the quality of the visuals carry the interest from beginning to end of its 25 minutes.
