Press Release
New Delhi, 06 October 2006

Bangalore CMS VATAVARAN 2006

Centre for Media Studies (CMS) is in the Garden City of India for the first time to organise the Bangalore CMS VATAVARAN 2006 'Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival'.

The 3-day festival started today and will continue till October 8, 2006 at the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. The festival is India's only premier Environment and Wildlife Film Festival and it brings an opportunity to view an array of films on topical, Indian environment and wildlife issues.

Centre for Media Studies (CMS), New Delhi in collaboration with Suchitra Film Society and Alliance Francaise de Bangalore in association with Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF) and Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) is organising the festival. Supporting this initiative is the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

Day 1 of the festival started with the inaugural ceremony and the festival had the honour of having Mr K. Jairaj, Commissioner, Bangalore Mahanagara Palike as the Chief Guest and Mr A K Varma, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, Bangalore as the Guest of Honour. The festival felicitated Bangalore filmmakers Nina Subramani and K P Sasi for their effort to highlight the local environment issues of the region. The ceremony also included an inaugural film titled 'The Source of Life for Sale' by Mr KP Sasi.

The afternoon will start with a symposium on 'Managing Electronic Waste' which is being held in association with Ashoka Trust for research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). The symposia will open up with a film 'A Second Hand Life' by Nutan Manmohan which brings to light the grim side of the IT era. The symposia will be chaired by Dr. H C Sharatchandra, Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the panelists will include Dr. Seema Purushothaman, Associate Director, ATREE; Mr. Ramapathy Kumar, Team Leader, Toxics, GreenPeace; Ms. Vinutha Gopal, Campaigner, GreenPeace; Mr. P. Parthsarathy, Director, E-Parisaraa; Mr. Kiran Subbarao, group Product Manager - Super Genious, WIPRO and Ms. Wilma Rodrigues, Founder Member, Saahas. The twilight zone will have film screenings which will go uptill 8.30 p.m.

Some other special features of the festival are: "Walk with Nature" a photography exhibition by Thakur Dalip Singh, eminent wildlife photographer, CMS VATAVARAN Film bazaar and stalls from organizations like JAIVA which is into organic products and Streelekha which is into books.

Premiering in the 3-day festival will be Nina Subramani's film Healing the Coast, which explores the environmental restoration along Tamil Nadu's coastline in the post-tsunami context. Also to be screened will be the CMS Fellowship film by Prayas Abhinav and Manjushree titled "Leaving No Trace…Cyclist in the City". The next 2 days of the festival will include multi-variant programmes including special screenings for children, a symposium on "Wildlife-Human Conflicts, youth discussions, expert talks and more.

The 3-day festival will reach out to approximately 2000 people including filmmakers, NGOs, government organizations, environmentalists, researchers, conservationists, policy makers, activists, public and private sector organisations and students of all ages.

Bangalore CMS VATAVARAN 2006 is expected to create awareness on the environmental problems of India's Silicon Valley. It will generate greater momentum on environmental issues and lead to action for change," says Alka Tomar, Festival Director, CMS VATAVARAN.

Prithvi Ratna Mike Pandey' s Panda award / Green Oscar winning film, Shores of Silence - Whale Sharks in India, Shekar Dattatri 's The Ridley's Last Stand, giving new insights into the natural history and conservation of the mysterious Oliver Ridley Turtles, Ajay & Vijay Bedi's The Policing Langur on monkey menace, Amar Kanwar's Many Faces of Madness on ecological destruction, Dhimant Vyas's Cute Bunny on keeping the environment clean are some of the films which will be part of Bangalore CMS VATAVARAN 2006 - Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival.

For more information contact:
CMS VATAVARAN Film Festival Directorate
Rohit Singh
p: 91-11-2499 2597, 265 222 44, 2686 40 20
E: Rohit Singh
M: 09899979158
www.cmsvatavaran.org