Milestones
2022: The 11th competitive edition of Film Festival and Forum on the theme-“Celebrating Biodiversity”.
2022: The 10th Travelling Film Festival and Forum in Shimla, Bengaluru and Bhutan.
2021: Traveling festival in Leh, Uttarkashi, Keylong and Gangtok.
2020: Online webinars, competitions like essay writing competition, quiz, painting competitions, short film competitions were organized among school and college students.
2019: The 10th competitive edition held at Dr Ambedkar International Center, New Delhi from 27-30 November 2019, on the theme “Celebrating Himalayas”. The jury nominated total 113 films (61 National & 52 International) from 332 entries (173 National & 159 International Films) for the festival. The award jury was headed by Shri Suresh Prabhu.
2018: The 8th Travelling Festival was organized from March to October in Bangalore and in 4 Himalayan cities namely Darjeeling, Agartala, Srinagar and Nahan.
2017: The 9th Competitive Edition held at GSDS Rajghat, New Delhi from 2nd to 6th November, on the topic of “Conservation 4 Water.” The jury nominated total 113 films (61 National & 52 International) from 332 entries (173 National & 159 International Films) for the festival. The jury was headed by Mr Govind Nihlani.
2016: The 7th Travelling Festival dedicated and held at seven of the large and small rivers of India – Brahmaputra (Guwahati), Mula-Mutha (Pune), Sabarmati (Ahmedabad), Ganga (Allahabad), Nethravati (Mangalore), Cauvery (Trichirrappalli), and Musi (Hyderabad).
2015: The 8th Competitive Edition held on October 9th to 13th at the NDMC Convention Centre. The festival highlighted the importance of WATER in our life. The jury nominated total 113 films (61 National & 52 International) from 332 entries (173 National & 159 International Films) for the festival. The jury was headed by Shri Amol Palekar and Mr Girish Kasaravalli.
2014: The 6th Travelling Edition organised at Puducherry, Agra, Amritsar, Gangtok, and Raipur.
2013: The 7th CMS VATAVARAN: Environment & Wildlife Film Festival and Forum held at the IGNCA Lawns, New Delhi, India from (Thursday - Monday) Jan 30th - Feb 03rd, 2014. Theme of the festival was “Biodiversity Conservation”. The Award jury was headed by Mr Ramesh Sharma. It featured around 112 films and more than 100 eminent speakers in 70 thematic sessions and expert discussions in six specially curated lawns.
2012: CMS VATAVARAN travelled to Dehradun, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kolkata with programs built around the theme of Biodiversity Conservation. The Festival and Forum was held at 51 locations and for 37 days. There were 250 film screenings, 4 panel discussions, 3 green filmmaking workshops, 3 media roundtables, 3 eco-tours (theme: Healing The Forest), biodiversity quiz, biodiversity mapping and felicitation of 16 grassroots individuals. It witnessed an overwhelming participation of 48000 people from different sections of the society. Also, Hyderabad CMS VATAVARAN - Biodiversity Film Festival was organized for 11th Conference of the Parties (COP-11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) delegates.
2011: The Sixth Competitive Film Festival was on the theme of Biodiversity held on 06 dec- 10 Dec 2011 at Convention Centre, NDCC Opp. Jantar Mantar, Jai Singh Road New Delhi. The festival was celebrated on the theme of “Biodiversity Conservation”. The jury consisted of 37 members who nominated 68 films (51 Indian films from 22 states and 17 international films from 27 countries) from 317 entries for the festival.
2010: The Fourth Travelling Film Festival was organised in 8 cities (Shimla, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Port Blair, Shillong, Bhubaneswar, Patna and Ahmedabad) across India, with film screenings at more than 70 venues and participation of nearly 95,000 people. For the first time 'Green Heroes' were also felicitated.
2009: The Fifth Competitive Film Festival was organized at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi from October 27-31,2009. Theme of the festival was “Climate Change & Sustainable Technologies”. It attracted 366 entries from 20 Indian states and 23 foreign countries. The award jury was headed by Mr Jahnu Barua and Ms Aruna Vasudev.
2008: The Third Travelling Film Festival screened 304 films over a span of 24 days in 8 cities- Agartala, Bangalore, Bhopal, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Leh,, Lucknow, Pune, Ranchi. Six national and 51 state partners lent support and approx. 80,000 participants attended.
2007: The Fourth Competitive Film Festival was organized at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi from 12-16 September,2007. It drew 275 entries from 19 countries. The festival theme was” Climate Change”. Awards for technical excellence and the Young Environmental Journalist Award (YEJA) were initiated. The award jury was headed by Mr. Shyam Benegal and Mr. Ashish Kothari.
2006: The Travelling Film Festival went overseas to Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo apart from visiting 10 Indian cities - Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kashmir, Kolkata, Pune, Ranchi and Sirmour.
2005: The Third Competitive Film Festival was organized at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi from November 21-24, 2005. It received 244 entries. The theme of the festival was “Forests for Life”. The steering committee was chaired by Dr Karan Singh and Shri Shyam Benegal headed the Award Jury.
2004: The First Travelling Film Festival went to Chennai, Coimbatore and Mumbai. People began recognizing and supporting the CMS VATAVARAN environment awareness movement.
2003: The Second Competitive Film Festival held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi from November 18-20,2003 and became biennial. Theme of the festival was “Water for Life”. CMS and UNEP instituted an award 'Prithvi Ratna' (Jewel of Earth) for extraordinary contribution to wildlife filmmaking and natural history.
2002: India's only environment and wildlife Film Festival - CMS VATAVARAN - began its maiden run. First CMS VATAVARAN FILM FESTIVAL was held at Shri Fort Auditorium, Khel Gaon, New Delhi from April 8-9, 2002. Theme of the festival was “Sustainable Environment Through Films”.
(For more details, click on the year)
