In love with mother nature
ANUJ KUMAR
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Three ways, one commitment - environment. Meet Richard Brock, Harriet Nimmo and Doug Allan.
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PHOTO: ANU PUSHKARNA
UP ON THE CHARTS (From left) Doug Allan, Harriet Nimmo and Richard Brock at Vatavaran-2005 in New Delhi.
They bring the environment to our drawing rooms. Richard Brock, Harriet Nimmo and Doug Allan were in Delhi to participate in Vatavaran-2005 film festival where a retrospective of the works of Brock and Doug was presented. Each one had a point on the way environment coverage is fast becoming rating-prone on television and the role festivals can play to keep the globe connected on environmental issues.
A committed environmentalist, Richard Brock is known for "The Open Ocean", a series that chronicled the evolution of the oceans. Having worked with BBC Natural History Unit for 35 years, he is the executive producer of Living Planet Productions, Brock says, "Showing the truth on some minority channel governed by ratings is not the answer. Showing it where it counts, is." And he does what he talks. Recently he gave the fishermen of Madagascar equipment to shoot the endangered species and coral reefs in their region. "You have to impress upon them that their land is valued for these species and their survival depends on the way they take care of these species."
Environmental reporting
Brock says to him environment filmmaking means reaching out to people who can make a difference. "The films made by them may not be of high quality but it gives them a sense of satisfaction and could be shown in similar communities in other parts of the world."
Doug Allan is a name synonymous with underwater photography. With award winning films like "Blue Planet" to his credit, this celebrated cinematographer has worked for Discovery and National Geographic besides BBC. He admits his passion for big animals with statements like "shooting animals smaller than rabbits doesn't excite me." Having worked among Orcas, the attacking grey whales off California and polar bears in Arctic Canada, Doug says most of the times what you see is not dangerous, what's not in your view could turn out to be hazardous. "You have to be aware of your surroundings all the time because the polar bear in front of you won't hurt you, it's the one lurking behind that should be taken care of."
Doug agrees the environmental reporting is increasingly becoming more and more subjective. "At times there are political pressures, at times the channel asks for the gloss depending on their target audience. At the end of the day they want somebody to watch it. One channel urges using a celebrity to take the message forward while the other relies on hard facts. To me the best is to balance viewpoints from both sides of the problem, however, it is hard to achieve for there are so many people involved, that one person can' decide the final outcome."
In such a situation, where do the young filmmakers who don't have the millions but access to the core issues go? Or somebody who is not interested in just following pug marks for it spells instant fame. Harriet Nimmo, Chief Executive of Wildscreen, which delivers the world's largest wildlife and environment film festival with the highlight being the Panda Awards has a solution. She puts forth ARKive, one of Wildscreen initiatives. It's a centralised collection of important nature films, sound recordings and photographs of endangered species. "Such archives can help the youngsters for they don't require technical finesse or large budgets every time. And I am happy that there is tremendous increase in the number of youngsters taking to environment filmmaking in India. In fact, last year three of our top prizes went to Indian filmmakers. That's what attracted me to India. Also they are not limiting themselves to tiger, which has been a flagship brand for India and will remain. There is no harm in that for the money coming from tiger films could be used in other areas."
Brock has the final word, "Capturing the glamorous side of the cats is okay but the real stories surrounding tiger like what was happening in Sariska should also come forth."
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