Kolkata, Dec 16 (UNI) The Third Edition of Kolkata International Wildlife and Environment Film Festival was inaugurated amid much fanfare as the city got ready to feast their eyes of 66 of the world’s best films on nature, wildlife and social concerns.
Ramon Magsaysay awardee Dr Prakash Baba Amte & Dr Mandakini Amte inaugurated the three day affair last evening.
The 'Power Couple' of Dandarayana forests were joined by Sandhya Roy, eminent actor and Member Parliamentary standing committee on Forest and Environment; Shatabdi Roy, Member of Parliament; Chiranjit Chakraborty, Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly; Sambaran Banerjee, Former National Selector, BCCI.
The inauguration was followed by screening of JUNGLE BOOK BEAR a film by Oliver Goetz, Germany. Baloo was Mowgli’s constant companion from the Jungle Book. Rudyard Kipling and then Walt Disney made this clumsy fellow world famous.
The role models for Baloo are the Sloth Bears of India - surprisingly little is known about this secretive species. These animals have never been portrayed in a natural history programme before.
Over a period of three years Oliver Goetzl and Ivo Nörenberg not only were
lucky enough to film these elusive creatures at daytime but got also behavior that was even not known to scientists so far - e.g. the mouth feeding of cubs by their mothers. Legendary Sir David Attenborough narrated this film in the most enticing manner.
“In this third edition we have received lots of entries but after a close look we have selected 66 films. This year we will have a World Premiere of Naseeruddin Shah starrer feature film, Suryaganga, Directed by Valli Bindana from USA,” Director of KIWEFF Aditya Lal Mukherjee said.
“The film churned around the story line of River Ganges. When the Ganges riverbed dries up in the Himalayas due to intensified damming, curious 6yr old Anu who has been hearing wonderful mythological stories about the river, asks the most fundamental of questions - why. Mom Valli who had in her childhood spent many treasured moments by the river with her own mother, decides to get some answers.
And so they pack their bags and with brother Marthand set out on an adventure across the length and breadth of India filming the social and environmental (specifically water) impact of big energy projects - hydro and coal and witness the rise of solar and wind,” he said.
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