Green message by city girls echoes at film fest

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 8

Two young filmmakers from the city brought laurels to the city after their movie selected for the 10th Centre for Media Studies (CMS) VATAVARAN Environment and Wildlife Film Festival, which was held from November 27 to 30 in New Delhi.

A short film made by young directors Ishita Bhardwaj and Anuja Sharma, ‘Indoor Deaths’, based on indoor air pollution, was nominated to the short film competition and festival out of 345 entries. The directors got an invitation for the festival where the film was screened.

While sharing their experience, Bhardwaj and Sharma apprised that being able to tell a story or make people aware of various problems through a visual medium is a big responsibility. “And being invited to such an eminent platform is an achievement,” they shared.

CMS VATAVARAN is a pioneer in international film festival and forum on environment and wildlife in India. Using films as a window to delve into nature, the festival showcases the best of Indian and International films and documentaries.

The main competitive festival happens in New Delhi every alternate year, where the best entries from all over the world are nominated and awarded. Public screenings are held and a vast range of conservation issues are deliberated among practitioners in interactive sessions.

While sharing the information, these young filmmakers said that it was a great learning experience at the festival. “In the festival, we got a chance to attend a workshop by national award winner documentary filmmakers Nandan Saxena and Kavita Behl, which was a great opporunity,” said Ishita Bhardwaj.

Anuja said a session with Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej was held in which he told the importance of background music in a documentary. The festival was inaugurated by Union Cabinet Minister Prakash Javadekar.