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From the Rockies
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A treat awaits mountain lovers at the Sarathi Studios today
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IF BANFF in the heart of the Rockies in Canada is a must-visit for mountaineers, Darjeeling in North Bengal is Banff's quiet, down-to-earth cousin in India. In both places however, the culture is quite akin.
The way of life is one that promotes understanding and appreciation of mountains, instils deep concern for the environment and maintains a harmonious existence between man and nature. Only in Banff the culture goes a step further, people out there are as much into mountains as Sachin Tendulkar is into cricket.
"Through films, proactive discussion and research, we at Banff, celebrate and explore the values and accomplishments of all those who are dedicated to developing their relationship with mountain places," says Canadian High Commission's public affairs head, Reid Cooper.
The High Commission has brought a bouquet of seven award-winning short films on mountains to be screened around the world, as part of Banff's mountain culture. In Hyderabad, the movies will be shown at Sarathi Studios, Ameerpet today at 6.30 p.m. (For more information, telephone 31020243).
"The seven films are a pick from the best entries for this year's Banff Mountain Film Festival. Filmmakers from more than 30 countries worldwide enter more than 300 films in the high-status competition that is celebrating its 29th anniversary," says secretary of Hyderabad Film Club, Bh. S.S. Prakash Reddy. Prior to coming to Hyderabad, the films toured Darjeeling, Guwahati, Kolkata, Delhi, Dehradun and Chennai. Bangalore, Manali, Srinagar and Mumbai are the other places where the films will tour in India.
"The objective of screening movies in India is to get local filmmakers participate in the contest. And we will encourage more and more Indians to take part in the next mountain festival to be held in November 2004," says Cooper.
Of the seven films, Unlimited Winter (five minutes) on cross-country skiing, which stars Olympic medallist Beckie Scott and The Other Final (2003 grand prize-winner, a 53-minute feature film about a soccer match in Thimpu, Bhutan) have received rave reviews worldwide for spectacular picturisation and emotive storyline. Then, there is one on mountain humour, Biscuit by Peter Mortimer where a dog named Biscuit has an appetite for big climbs and makes her way up treacherous terrain and diffi- cult rock faces. Deep Seeded Instability, Fate of the Old Crow, Part Animal Part Machine forms the rest in the repertoire that includes categories like, climbing, mountain sports/fiction, natural history, heritage, arts, lifestyle and adventure.
"The grand prize winner in the 1999 Banff film festival was an Austrian who had made a telling feature on mountains in Assam. It is surprising that in a country, so replete with hills and mountains, there hasn't been expected film production work in relation to mountains," laments Cooper
It is difficult to disagree.
SOUVIK CHOWDHURY
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