Vatavaran 2005 Jury

Mr. Shyam Benegal, Eminent Film maker (Chairperson)

Shyam Benegal's View on Vatavaran 2005

One of India’s most prolific filmmakers, Shyam Benegal originated what has come to be called "middle cinema". Shyam Benegal initially associated with the advertising industry produced several commercials before his interest turned to feature films. Ankur was his first feature, which was followed by productions for various government organizations including his most popular series Bharat Ek Khoj. His most recent endeavour is Bose The Forgotten Hero. He has also taught at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and continues to be an inspiring and influential presence in the Indian film industry.

Dr. A. J. T. Johnsing, Dean, Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun

On a Smithsonian Institute fellowship, Johnsing studied raccoons and opossums in Front Royal, Virginia in US and the ecology and behaviour of Dholes in Bandipur Tiger Reserve for his doctoral dissertation. He has supervised several research projects and has published a number of papers in national and international journals. He worked with the Bombay Natural History Society, taught at the Smithsonian Wildlife Management Training Course in China, and conducted training programmes for forest guards and wildlife managers in Vietnam. Currently, he teaches at the Wildlife Institute of India..

Darryl D'Monte, Chairperson, Chairperson of the Forum of Environmental Journalists of India, Mumbai

Darryl D’Monte is the Chairperson of the Forum of Environmental Journalists of India and was the founder President of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ) in Dresden, Germany, in 1993. He has been Resident Editor of Times of India and Indian Express. He was the Resident Editor of The Times of India. His books include Ripping the Fabric: The Decline of Mumbai and its Mills, Temples or Tombs and Industry Versus Environment.

Mr. Ram Mohan, Animation Expert, Mumbai

Ram Mohan is India’s youngest animation director at age 72. Ram’s sharp wit and sharp pencil has earned him international accolades in a career spanning over forty years. His favourite characters among the thousands he has brought to life are Meena, the UNICEF mascot and Lord Ram in the highly acclaimed Japanese animation feature on the Ramayana.

Prof. R. Sukumar, Chairman, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore

Prof. Sukumar has a PhD in Ecology from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where he is presently Professor and Chair of the Centre for Ecological Sciences. In 1997, Sukumar set up the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation. He has been a member of the Indian Board for Wildlife, and of the Project Elephant Steering Committee of the Government of India. Prof. Sukumar is also the recipient of several conservation awards like the Presidential Award of the Chicago Zoological Society (1991), Order of the Golden Ark (The Netherlands, 1997) He is the author of three books on elephants and over 50 scholarly publications in the area of elephant biology, tropical forest ecology, climate change and nature conservation.

Dr. Santwana Bardoloi, Assamese Actor and National Award Winning Film maker

Santwana's first directorial venture was a short tele-film Aranyak for Doordarshan. It was followed by another cinematic piece Madhyavartini.

Adajya (The Flight) her maiden feature film, which won the national award in 1997, was invited to twenty International Film Festivals. Dr. Santwana Bardoloi had her debut on stage in her school days with the Assamese version of Henrik Ibsen’s Wild Duck. Since then, she has been performing selective works on stage, radio and television. Santwana earned the distinction of winning the Best Actress award with her immaculate performance in the play Pygmallion, and at the All India Drama Festival at New Delhi in 1973. She has directed several productions for Doordarshan. She was also a Jury member in the National Film Festival in 1998 and International Film Festival of Kerala in 2001.

Mr. Shyamaparsad, Award Winning Film Maker and Theatre person, Programming Head, Amrita TV, Trivandrum

Shyamaprasad has degree in Theatre Arts from the School of Drama of Calicut University and a Masters in Media Productions from the Hull University, UK. He has worked as media researcher and creative contributor for BBC and Pebble Mill Studios. Shyam's most recent work Bokshu the Myth has an international star cast and is awaiting release.