Films are the most impactful audio-visual medium that stablishes a subconscious communications channel between itself and its viewers by creating an environment wherein all senses are immersed in the experience, eliciting an emotional response.
A film is thus a magical tool to raise eco-awareness in society. It captures unambiguous realities in a manner that jolts us out of our sense of complacency. Our experience through the online and offline film festivals/screenings has shown that there is perhaps no better way than films to impress upon our society that biodiversity and environment is not an uninteresting topic but is an interactive living ecosystem that responds to our participation in ways that we can touch and see, every day.
Keeping this in mind, daily from May 22 till June 8, 2021, a series of thought provoking and award winning green films will be screened online. Everyday work of an individual green filmmaker will be showcased. The films will available free for streaming for 24 hours, and can be watched from anywhere in the world on the Facebook and YouTube page of CMS VATAVARAN. These films will be available daily from 10 am IST onwards.
Over the last century, humans have come to dominate the planet, causing rapid ecosystem change and massive loss of biodiversity across the planet. This has led some people to refer to the time we now live in as the “anthropocene.” While the Earth has always experienced changes and extinctions, today they are occurring at an unprecedented rate. Major direct threats to biodiversity include habitat loss and fragmentation, unsustainable resource use, invasive species, pollution, and global climate change. The underlying causes of biodiversity loss, such as a growing human population and overconsumption are often complex and stem from many interrelated factors.
The good news is that it is within our power to change our actions to help ensure the survival of species and the health and integrity of ecological systems. By understanding threats to biodiversity, and how they play out in context, we can be best prepared to manage conservation challenges.
Theses film screening will help the mases to understand the different aspects of these rapid ecosystem change and massive loss of biodiversity which is happening across our India. Through the medium of films, we will also try to understand the conservation efforts, which is going around India which has made some significant difference in the state of biodiversity today.
These national and international award-winning films will not only be dealing with different aspects of biodiversity and ecological, environmental, wildlife and sustainable developmental problems only, will also be addressing the issues related to UNSDGs like Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), Goal 13 (Climate Action), Goal 14 (Life Below Water), and Goal 15 (Life on Land).
Apart from film screenings, online live Q&A session with the Filmmaker will also be organised every day.
