Invisible Demons

Personal and kaleidoscopic look at the way climate change is affecting Delhi. Unbearable heatwaves, water shortages and pollution hit everybody, but the poorest citizens the most. Visually stunning documentary, interspersed with eye-opening and touching accounts of some of Delhi’s 30 million everyday citizens, from rickshaw drivers to school girls.

‘I grew up as an air-conditioned child who couldn’t even imagine the natural world outside the city,’ director Rahul Jain says at the beginning of his impressive documentary. In 1991, the year Jain was born, India opened its economy to the free market. Since then the country’s environment has been rapidly deteriorating. Today many people suffer from severe health and respiratory problems, with 10 per cent of all deaths in India due to air pollution.

In Invisible Demons – the title referring to the small particles polluting the air ‘like poisonous darts piercing our lungs’ – Jain takes a close look at the way climate change is threatening life in Delhi. The result is an overwhelming visual experience, engaging the senses with stunning images of vibrant, brimming, electrifying Delhi.