7th CMS VATAVARAN Environment and Wildlife Film Festival and Forum 2014

Bluebells International School, New Delhi, hosted special screenings of environment and wildlife films on December 27 and 30, 2013, at the school auditorium for junior and senior schools respectively.

4 films were screened at both the screenings. The Junior school screening on December 27 started off with an award winning film, "My Home is Green", directed by Sajan Sindhu. This animated film tells us the story of a lonely ant, who lost his entire tribe in a pesticide mishap, meets a baby caterpillar. A relationship develops between them. The story moves forward through the memories of the ant, and the metamorphosis of the caterpillar. The film is dedicated to those children who lost their lives in the Endosulfan mishap of Kasargod district, Kerala. Rainwater Harvesting, a PSA directed by Raghu Gopalan was screened followed by Chasing Butterflies directed by Gurmeet Sapal. Since the film is targeted at children, a conscious attempt has been made to explain scientific terms in a lucid manner. The last film was "The Policing Langur", directed by Ajay and Vijay Bedi. It explores colourful vistas of the man-monkey relationship in India through Raju, a pet langur and his owner, hired to guard strategic Government buildings in Delhi, a city under regular attacks by the marauding monkeys.

The Senior school screening on December 30 started off with the film "Home- Our Garden of Eden", directed by Suresh Elamon. This film take a look into the garden of the film-maker's house which is filled with multitude of living things. It is also about two siblings, with a wildlife enthusiast father who urges them to first observe the wondrous creatures in their backyard, before visiting a wildlife park. The second film "Why don't we Ride Zebras?", directed by Hannah Smith Walker, follows an animated caveman and a zebra through a live-action world filled with nearly-domesticatable animals. After a short break the remaining two films were screened. It started off with "Kosi: Injustice with Millions of Villagers and Revolt by the Kosi River", directed by Vishaal Nityanand, tells us the story of River Kosi and issues associated with it, especially when the river floods during the rains leaving the people with immense devastation and loss of lives. The last film "Goa Goa Gone", directed by Kurush Canteenwala, talks about the intensifying mining activities in Goa and the opposition of citizens to this unregulated industry.