Royal Norwegian Embassy is the Principal Partner of CMS VATAVARAN 2007, India’s leading and only one of its kind competitive environment and wildlife film festival.
13/05/2008 :: Slated for September 12 to 16, 2007 at the India Habitat Centre, the Film Festival this year offers wide array of awards, programmes and participation. The main attractions of the festival would be showcasing approx. 100 best of Indian and International films, panorama, retrospectives, panel discussions on conservation and livelihood, films for campaign and advocacy technical workshops on Wildlife filmmaking, Storytelling Nature Photography and open forums, tête-à-tête with filmmakers; film bazaar, exhibition of photography, stamps and cartoons.
Since Norway is the host country for holding World Environment Day (WED) events, the theme of CMS VATAVARAN (Climate Change) is much in line with the WED theme “Melting ice – a hot topic?’ The impact of melting ice will be deadliest in Indian, than in any other country of the world due to the sheer size and geography of this country. Three of its main rivers – Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus will become seasonal rivers as Himalayan glaciers will continue to retreat till they vanish entirely in 2035, according to IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report, released this year.
In view of the far-reaching consequences of the climate change in India, 4th CMS VATAVARAN – Environment and Wildlife Film Festival has declared the theme for this year’s festival as 'Climate Change' and will have a one-day 'International Summit on Climate Change' scheduled for September 13 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
About CMS VATAVARAN 2007
275 films from 18 Indian states and 18 countries entered the competition in a total of 12 Indian and 6 International categories. Award money ranges from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 1,50,000. Festival 2007 has seen introduction of Competitive International Category as well as new Indian Categories like: Livelihood, Festival Theme: Climate Change, Children’s film.
Two Norwegian Films – ‘Impacts of warming climate’ and ‘White Canvas, Black Hyena’ will also be screened during the festival.
Introduced for the first time this year, the festival will honor the green scribes through FEJI- CMS Academy Young Environment Journalist Award. TVE Asia Pacific TV News Stories Award is yet another new CMS VATAVARAN initiative. This year, awards will be also given for technical excellence in Best Editing, Story Telling and Cinematography.
The festival is supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the Government of India, and endorsed by both UNESCO and the state broadcaster Doordarshan apart from many others
Representing the Government of Norway in India, the Norwegian Embassy’s support to the 4th CMS VATAVARAN Environment & Wildlife Film Festival reflects the Norwegian Governments’ commitment to promoting the environmental agenda, to working for a sustainable development and its dedication towards strengthening the ties between India and Norway. Conceived in 2002, CMS VATAVARAN is India's only biennial competitive and travelling film festival. It is organized by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), an independent professional forum engaged in research, policy advocacy, advisory services and programme evaluation.
“CMS VATAVARAN assumes importance because it is India’s only competitive film festival featuring film screenings, summit on climate change, techno exhibition, retrospectives and panoramas, etc” says P N Vasanti, Director of CMS. “It is also the first time that so many collaborations of this importance have been achieved and the number of entries we have been receiving from film-makers is very encouraging.”
New initiatives in CMS VATAVARAN 2007:
* Recognise achievements in technical excellence
* Introduce International Competitive Category
* Honour outstanding documentaries on natural world or conservation theme
* FEJI Young Environmental Journalist Award
CMS VATAVARAN 2007 will recognize films in all genres -- documentaries, docu-dramas, narratives, shorts, advertising campaigns, public service announcements and new media creations – that inform, educate and foster knowledge, understanding and action on environment, wildlife issues and other socially relevant themes.
The nominated films in all categories -- as well as those of particular interest or merit -- will be screened and promoted not only at the festival, but also during the CMS VATAVARAN travelling film festival, which will tour India for many months.
The Festival reaches out to people from all walks of life including filmmakers, civil society groups, government organizations, environmentalists, researchers, conservationists, policy makers, activists, public and private sector organisations and students of all ages and is recognized as a calendar event amongst filmmakers, environment, wildlife and conservation sector.
CMS VATAVARAN Film Festival Directorate; RNE, New Delhi