UPDATE

Toxics Link and India International Centre organized “Quotes from the Earth� an exploration of films on environment, at IIC, New Delhi, on the 6^th & 7^th December, 2012 (Thursday & Friday). Supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, India

This was the 5^th edition of the bi-ennial film festival, being held since 2004. Today there is a deep concern for the environment in the public domain as Environmental stress is growing, conflicts over natural resources have deepened and become more complex. There is an escalating Environmental stress with increasing desertification, pollution, vanishing biodiversity and wildlife, degrading water bodies.

In an attempt to address some of the ecological challenges the world is facing the festival through the platform of documentaries offered a visual understanding of the issues. From the, lakes of Kashmir & Manipur to farmers suicide and struggle for livelihood, from vanishing biodiversity and wildlife to dangers of endosulfan & pesticide - over 26 films were screened which depicted the stark environmental challenges and conflicts confronting us. The films threw light essentially on four categories of environmental concerns: Earth, Water, Wildlife and survival. The first day focused on Wildlife and Water. The films under wildlife explore the man animal conflicts and give a peep into the lives of the endangered species like tiger, Rhino and Bear.

Panel Discussion

The festival went beyond viewing films. The film screening was followed by a panel discussion on 7^th December with eminent academicians and filmmakers on “Influence of Documentaries in Shaping Environmental Discourses in India’. The panel included distinguished speakers like Dr. Prof Biswajit Das (Professor and Director, Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia) and renowned filmmakers like Shafqut Habib, Nandan Saxena and Ankit Pogula.

Over a period of two days the festival succeeded in bringing under one umbrella people transcending all age groups to address some of the daunting environmental challenges and helped them contemplate. The festival saw an interactive session with the audience from diverse fields like some environmental enthusiasts, activists, educators, students, media persons, filmmakers, diplomats, NGO-workers, socially conscious individuals