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A date with `celluloid safari'

Lakshmi B. Ghosh

NEW DELHI: A journey into the deep, dark secrets of the jungle and a rare look at what happens when the wild world meets the tame and cultivated, the Capital's annual date with "celluloid safari" is all set for this coming November.

Donning a slightly new look, the country's biggest environment and wildlife film festival, "Vatavaran 2005'', has this year decided to go not just bigger but also global with the introduction of a new Asian Panorama segment. To be held from November 21, the four-day festival will make a bid to move beyond being just a film festival, with symposiums, exhibitions and a film bazaar thrown in to promote environment films in the market.

With an impressive 244 entries making a bid for a place in the competitive section this time, Vatavaran is finally witnessing an increase in numbers, with the increase resulting in two new categories this time.

While "Forest for Life'' will be the running theme of the festival, it will see films being screened in seven different categories including Wildlife Natural History, Wildlife Conservation, Environment, Forest for Life and Public Service Announcements and spots. This year the festival has two new categories -- animation and students' film.

"Vatavaran is a wonderful initiative towards sensitising the Indian public at large about environmental issues and highlighting the complexities of conservation through the medium of cinema,'' said noted filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who is chairing the six-member festival jury.

For a festival that pays ode to celluloid while raising important environmental issues and bringing to the fore important concerns, another interesting segment his year will be a retrospective of film-makers. This section will see focus on the life and work of well known British film-makers Richard Brock and Doug Allan whose programmes like "Life on Earth'', "Living Planet'' and "The Blue Planet'' have set new standards.

Organised by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), providing a platform for debate will be the 13th International Federation of Environmental Journalists Congress that will work on the theme `Human-Wildlife Conflicts' and `Sustainable Development'.

To add to it, the British High Commission too is collaborating with CMS and will be awarding four UK Environmental Film Fellowship on Climate Change to filmmakers who have displayed a commitment to environmental issues through their films. And while Delhi will get the treat first, the festival is set to travel to different parts of the country later with the same package and this safari is all set for a long journey.

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