Meet Thejavikho Chase, a filmmaker documenting the edible insects of northeast India and the people behind this sustainable food source.
As published in Nature inFocus on 25 April, 2024.
The first frame is something straight out of a science fiction movie. Spherical, white incubator-like tubes vibrate as small, orange beings with tiny tentacles emerge from within. Before you let your imagination run wild, the audio pans out to include the nearby human chatter in a bustling marketplace in Nagaland. Next to fresh produce, you see freshly emerging insects as vendors count and place them on plates for sale. It is a scene from Dipen Rangmang and Thejavikho Chase’s award-winning film on edible insects—Rearing Giants.
If you are a regular visitor to the Nature inFocus site, the concept of edible insects is not completely alien to you. With the increasing global population and a dire need to seek alternative and sustainable protein sources, entomophagy or eating insects is gaining prominence as the preferred solution.
But as we focus on how edible insects tick all the boxes in terms of being the nutritionally, economically and environmentally viable choice, the often-forgotten protagonists of the story are the communities that have traditionally grown and consumed these insects regularly. Thanks to filmmakers like Thejavikho Chase, their faces are also part of the narrative.
Head over to Nature inFocus to read the full interview