How green is my world?

The Vasundhara Mitra Honour will be conferred in three categories – filmmaker,activist and organisation — in the course of the festival,to Shekhar Dattatri,Vilas Pansare,and Nisarga Sevak,respectively.

“We hope to create awareness about the dangers faced by our planet through this festival and have selected films which will appeal to the youth,as ultimately,it’s the youth who will be responsible for the future of earth,” said Arti Kirloskar,convener of the festival. “Vasundhara is not just a festival,it is an attempt to change minds,attitudes and if possible,policies. Through this festival,we strive to make people more concerned about Mother Nature (Vasundhara) and our priceless natural heritage. It provides a platform to listen to the views of experts and visualise the bigger picture,” she added.

To promote continuous exchange of information about VIFF on cyberspace,communities have been set up on Orkut and Facebook,and these will continue to be functional after the festival is over. Special sections have been created this year like Indian Vista,Focus on United Kingdom,Wildlife in Africa,Children’s Section,Mountaineering Films Section. Plus,on Gudi Padva,a special audio-visual programme named Chaitra Palvi,which includes songs,poem reading,interactions,visual clips and narration will be presented by Sharvari Jamenis,Subhash Puranik and Dr Hema Sane.

Saving earth

* The Four Seasons Under Water by Florian Guthknecht

* Taking to the Air by Mike Salisbury and David Attenborough

* Microcosmos (French) by Claude Nuridsany,Marie Perennou

* The Great Ruaha River by African Environment Film Foundation

* Planet Earth – Fresh Water by Alastair Fothergill

* Where the Tallest Grass Grows by Mouleenath Senapati

* Snakes – Link of the Chain by Pooja Dolas

* Summer of Dolphins by Shahar Segal

* Meltdown in Nepal by Tanya Petersen

* Touching the Void by Kevin Macdonald