Glimpses of SHIMLA Festival- October 04 to 07, 2021.
The Four-day green film festival and forum was organised at Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) Auditorium, Bembloe, Shimla from October 04-07, 2021. The festival began with a lamp lightning ceremony by all the eminent dignitaries present during the occasion. After the introduction and welcome of guests by Mr Sabyesachi Bharti, Deputy Director, CMS VATAVARAN, Sh. Anil Thakur, APCCF and State Nodal Officer, SECURE Himalaya Project set the context by mentioning that such Festivals and events as the one being carried out by CMSVATAVARAN presently are of utmost important for raising awareness regarding environmental aspects. He also explained about SECURE Himalaya project and its vital components focusing on sensitization of all concerned stakeholders. Nps Dhaulta, dfo headquarter, Ravisankar,dfo wildlife shimla, Anish Sharma, dfo publicity were also present during the event.
Chief guest of the event was Sh. Ajay Srivastav, PCCF(Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Himachal Pradesh. He mentioned how our acts can help in minimizing the effects of global warming. Conservation of energy and use of natural resources should be of utmost importance in the present scenario. We should retrospect our actions and work towards leading green lifestyle. He also requested the participants to interact with the resource persons to acquire maximum possible knowledge from the workshop.
This unique green film festival and forum was open for public from October 04-07, 2021. This is being organized by the GEF-GOI-UNDP SECURE Himalaya project of the Forest & Environment Department, Government of Sikkim, and CMS VATAVARAN. This is part of a series of ‘9th CMS VATAVARAN Travelling Film Festival and Forum’ in four Himalayan cites of Uttarkashi, Gangtok, Shimla and Leh.
The inaugural ceremony was followed by screening of secure HP film and the Introduction of the workshop and importance of Environmental Storytelling and Social Media in the Conservation Efforts by Mr. Sabyesachi Bharti, Deputy Director, CMS VATAVARAN followed by Workshop on Fundamentals of Environmental Filmmaking by Rakesh Rao, Sr. Environmental, Science and Conservation Filmmaker. The workshop continued till 05 October 2021.
On the last day of Festival special screening of The Return of the Shān by Krishnendu Bose was organized and a workshop in collaboration with the Shimla Press Club. This workshop was specially designed for the local journalists. More than 40 journalists participated in this workshop, a session on ‘Power of storytelling in conservation’ was presented by Mr. Sabyesachi Bharti, Deputy Director; CMS VATAVARAN. National Science Film Award winning film maker Mr Rakesh Rao gave an on-hand training about finding facts and understanding the fake while reporting. The topic of his session was “How to use storytelling and mobile in news reporting and making it more interactive.”
During the film festival a number of award-winning films on various relevant environmental issues like water conservation, wildlife conservation, climate change, forest conservation and livelihood & sustainable technologies were screened at Gaiety Theatre, The Mall, Shimla. Apart from the film screenings a range of interactive activities like on the spot quiz competition were also organized.
Shri Ram Subhag Singh, Chief Secretary, Govt. of H.P, graced the occasion as Chief Guest of the ceremony. He was accompanied by Shri Ajay Srivastav, PCCF(HoFF) cum Chief Wildlife Warden, Himachal Pradesh, Shri Anil Thakur, Addl. PCCF (Wildlife)cum State Nodal Officer SECURE Himalaya Project and Shri Sabyesachi Bharti, Deputy Director CMS VATAVARAN. Apart from them senior forest officials from the state and the Secure Himalaya team were also present during the ceremony. Mr Sabyesachi Bharti, Deputy Director, CMS VATAVARAN gave the overview of the festival.
The festival came to an end by distributing certificates and awards to the participants and winners of various program organized during the festival in an impressive closing ceremony.
