Glimpses of Uttarkashi Festival - February 25 & 26, 2021
The SECURE Himalaya Project organised 9th CMS VATAVARAN Traveling Festival and Forum on February 25 & 26, 2021 at the city of Uttarkashi, Uttrakhand. It was part of a series of SECURE Himalaya Project supported 9th CMS VATAVARAN Travelling Film Festival and Forum being organised in four Himalayan cites of Uttarkashi, Gangtok, Shimla and Leh. The festival was organised by SECURE HIMALAYA project of UNDP, with support from the Uttrakhand Government, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC), GoI, in collaboration with CMS VATAVARAN. The idea behind this festival and forum was to use films to engage wide range of stakeholders on conservation issues and to provide a platform for highlighting the SECURE Himalayas initiatives and programs.
The two-day green film festival organised at the District Collectorate Auditorium, Uttarkashi was inaugurated on February 25, 2021 by Shri Mayur Dixit, District magistrate of Uttarkashi. Others present in this inaugural ceremony were Shri R N Srivastava, DD, Gangotri National Park, Mr. Umed Singh Dhakad, Project Coordinator, Secure Himalayan Project and Dr. Vasanti Rao, Director General, CMS VATAVARAN. The event began with the lighting of the lamp followed by presentation of mementos to all the dignitaries.
Dr. Vasanti Rao, Director General, CMS VATAVARAN, welcomed the participants. She mentioned that “The Himalayas are very sensitive and need special conservation efforts by all, even every citizen. This was clearly the message from the recent Chamoli disaster. Such brazen violation and greed has made every city in the Himalayas waiting for disaster to occur. Such festivals are occasion to celebrate the beauty & biodiversity, and also introspect/discuss what we all collectively can do to conserve the same. We invite all residents and nature lovers to attend this two-day festival.”
Mr Umed Singh Dhakad, Project Coordinator, Secure Himalayan Project gave an overview while showing the film on secure Himalayan project UNDP and also mentioned about the ongoing series of traveling festival and requested the audiences to participate. While inaugurating the film festival, Mr. R N Srivastava, DD, Gangotri National Park, said the issues to wildlife conservation is very important and it should be duty of each one of us to conserve our biodiversity and wildlife in the Himalayan region.
Shri Mayur Dixit, District Magistrate Uttarkashi, Uttrakhand also encouraged the youth and general public, “He called for all students and teachers present to take forward the ideas and lessons learned from the award-winning environment and wildlife films in this festival”. He reminded the audience of the festival that Uttrakashi is the only district with more than 80% forest area and that too in the fragile Himalayan region. Therefore, it is each one our responsibility to help preserve and conserve this heritage.
The Inauguration ceremony also included first ever public premier of the film “Heroes of the Wild Frontiers: The Return of the Shan”, by Award winning film maker Mr Krishnendu Bose. This film is about Snow Leopard and their unfriendly habitats in Leh, followed by the National Anthem of India by Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej.
In the part of the SECURE Himalaya Project 9th CMS VATAVARAN traveling film festival, Media Seminar on Climate Change Reporting and its impact on Himalayan Ecosystem was organised at Gomukh Sabhagaar, Collectorate Audtorium, Uttarkashi.
The session began with the participants introductions and interactions by Dr. P N Vasanti Rao, Director General, CMS VATAVARAN. While interacting with the media fellows, Mr. Kamlesh Gururani, Reliance Foundation, Uttarkashi, said, “media engagement plan is a great opportunity for all of you to highlight the issues related to climate change in the Himalayas and what people are doing to cope with them.” Mr. Gururani also mentioned that, “it’s important to know how to write the climate change stories, articles and how its impacting on Himalayan Ecosystem.” He also gave the example of the local community of Himachal Pradesh where Apple agriculture is now shifted to Pomegranate due to change climate change. So, while writing the article media should involve and tell the stories of the local people.
Addressing all media persons Dr. Vasanti, Director General, CMS VATAVARAN said, “The aim of this kind of seminar is to empower the journalist who often don’t have information about data, access to experts and reports.” She gave the example of sources, websites, and online media manual where they could access all kind of information for their stories. More than 10 media journalists from major organisation such as Amar Ujala, Dainik Jagran, The Garhwal Post, News24 online portal and others were attended the media seminar and praises that this kind of workshop is much needed in our cities.
During the two-day SECURE Himalaya supported 9th CMS VATAVARAN traveling film festival, 11 award winning films on wildlife and Himalayan ecosystem were showcased among the students, general public and the officials. The films were screened at Collectorate Auditorium, Kendriya Vidayalaya, Nehru Institute of Mountaineering and ITBP Academy, Mahidanda in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand.
A total number of 7 institutions participated and more than 300 students attended the film festival with full excitement.
During the film festival, on the spot Quiz and Painting competition was organized for the Uttarkashi’s schools and colleges. The questions of the quiz competition were on the issue of climate change. General knowledge on Himalayan region and ecosystem were also asked from the students. The theme for the painting competition was environment, save the planet, wildlife conservation and Himalayan ecosystem.
More than 80 students from Government Post Graduate College, NCC, Kendriya Vidayalaya, Masseeh Dilasa School, and G I C Sald, Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand was participated in painting competition and around 150 students were participated in quiz contest in Collectorate Auditorium and Kendriya Vidyalay.
Along with a range of interactive activities like painting and quiz competition, all the participants got prizes and certificates in the quiz competition. The winners of the painting competition were announced. Ms. Deeya Raana, class 10th B from Kendriya Vidayala, Uttarkashi, got 1st Prize, Ms. Anshika Panwar, Class 9 th C, and Ms. Aarohi Ramola, 8th B from Maseeh Dilasa School (MDS), Uttarkashi got 2nd and 3rd prize, respectively
On the second day of the SECURE Himalaya Project 9th CMS VATAVARAN Traveling film festival, the Green Filmmaking workshop by ‘National Science Film Award’ Winner – Director Anoop Khajuria was held at Gomukh Sabhagar, Uttarkashi on February, 26, 2021.
This workshop was organised specially for the young students, media participants interested to learn the new techniques on how to make the film by your own; they also learnt how films can be a powerful tool for conservation. The session was an introduction to the world of Nature and Green filmmaking.
While addressing to the students, Mr. Anoop Khajuria discussed about the effective ways to become an independent filmmaker. He also introduced few equipment like Zihune gimble and sound recorder mini for remote areas and how to use the filming equipment one needs, plus a guide to post-production.
Explaining to the students and other participants in the Green film workshop, Mr Khajuria said, “We are the one who can spread the views, issues, and problems etc with the medium of film. We just have to know the idea on which we can make the film.”
Dr. Vasanti, said, ”We should be clear about our message, purpose and the medium could be anything. It could be a small story or big issue, with emerging technology, it can be reached to everyone from local to higher authority”. The objective of the green film workshop was to guide our young generation about making environment-related film, to creating awareness on the issues of conservation and wildlife.
During the workshop ‘Whispers of Warming’ - the one-hour documentary film on climate change, directed by Anoop Khajuria, was shown to the audiences. The film tells the story of the people who inhabit the western Himalayas and are being impacted by the climate change due to global warming.
It documents the phenomenon of climate change through the perceptions of people in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and focuses on their struggle to adapt to changing weather conditions.
Banners and posters of the festival were put up across the city on various locations to inform people on the festival.
CMS VATAVARAN team has promoted the festival extensively on the various social media platforms i.e. YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and CMS VATAVARAN Facebook page and profile and its various like minded relevant groups with the help of event creation, cross posting of DMs, and by organizing watch party during the film screenings which resulted in creating a buzz around the viewers and generating interest in the online film screening.
The 9th CMS VATAVARAN Film Festival 2021 was covered widely by newspaper dailies and social media sites. The festival had more than 15 print media coverage. Newspaper dailies were present during the festival and covered the festival & its programs.
Among the prominent ones were Amar Ujala, The garhwal post, Dainik Jagran, news 24 online portal and many more. The festival’s inaugural ceremony was covered by local television channels.
