'CMS VATAVARAN Travels 2006', India's Premier Environment and Wildlife Film Festival an innovative attempt to explore nature and analyze topical environment issues, is all set to roll from 23rd to 25th August 2006 in Chandigarh at Tagore Theatre.

Centre for Media Studies, (CMS) New Delhi and Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, Chandigarh in collaboration with Department of Environment, Chandigarh Administration is organizing Chandigarh CMS VATAVARAN 2006. The Festival is being supported by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

"CMS VATAVARAN, is a film festival with a difference, it is a movement to create concern and compassion for the environment through the powerful medium of documentaries" says Ms. P.N.Vasanti, Director CMS. "This year, we are committed to spread the environmental awareness campaign to far off regions, and the festival in 12 Indian cities and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates is a step in this direction," continues the director.

The three-days of the festival offers a unique opportunity to view an amazing array of the 30 best intriguing award winning CMS VATAVARAN films on topical Indian environment and wildlife issues with regional and global perspective. The festival aims at reaching a larger audience and foster dialogue among stakeholders to highlight the regional and national concerns.

Some of the films that will be a part of the VATAVARAN bouquet are Policing Langurs by Ajay & Vijay Bedi and Spunky Monkey on Monkey menace, A Second Hand Life on electronic waste business by Nutan Manmohan, Indian Leopords -The Killing Fields, by Praveen Singh on the need to conserve wildlife and the need to protect people and Chasing Butterflies by Gurmeet Sapal to name a few.

To enthuse the spirit of the festival, there will be a Symposium, "Agriculture and Environment" tapping the latest environmental concerns related to agriculture in Chandigarh and Punjab. One of the remarkable parts of this festival will also be special screenings for nearly 2000 children across the city and its vicinity.

The festival is also an initiative to provide a platform to environment and wildlife filmmakers to showcase their work amongst a wide range of audiences. In the same spirit two Chandigarh filmmakers i.e. Mr. Jeesu Jaskanwar Singh and Mr. Manmohan Singh will be felicitated for their exemplary work in the field of environment Filmmaking.

Photo Exhibitions by photographers from the city i.e. Mr. Jeesu Jaskanwar Singh (Pollution & Wildlife), Mr. Pradeep Tiwari (Pollution), Mr. Navtej Singh (Birds), Mr. Prabhat Bhatti (Birds) and Mr. R.S. Kwatra (Forestry & Wildlife) will also be a part of the festival.

Through CMS VATAVARAN Travels 2006, CMS aims at shaping up into a yearlong retrospective exercise in a mission mode to inform, educate and motivate people of all walks of life. Its objective is to create a whole new base to broaden the range, scope and audience of documentary films and converge and become participants and partners in preservation and conservation efforts.

Join us in 'CMS VATAVARAN Travels 2006', a poignant narrative of the state of 'our' environment, and expose yourself to vivid colours of nature and wildlife, from startling to sublime, compelling to convincing, illuminating to moving.

About Organisers:

Centre for Media Studies (CMS) is a premier research and advocacy organization working in the area of health, education, environment, communication and development. The environment division of CMS, through its research endeavors, reviews the effectiveness of the environment protection and communication efforts by the development agencies and the Government. It believes children are the harbingers of positive change and if young minds are given an opportunity and a platform to translate their creativity and thoughts on celluloid it can work wonders.

Punjab State Council for Science & Technology is an autonomous body under the aegis of the Department of Science, Technology & Environment, Govt. of Punjab. The council endeavors to harness the potential of science & technology as an instrument of socio-economic change and environment improvement. The council acts as a technical secretariat for the State Department of Science, Technology & Environment with focus on the following areas: Environment; Science Popularisation; Biotechnology; Industrial Pollution Control; Water Resource Management.

The Department of Environment, Chandigarh Administration, UT was established with the aim of creating awareness of environment issues among the residents of Chandigarh and conserve and protect the natural resources and to prevent environment degradation in the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

For more information, please contact:

Dr.Neelima Jerath Joint Director (Environment)
Punjab State Council For Science And Technology
Phone: 91-0172-2793300,2793600,2793141,2792325
Fax:91-0172-2793143,email:neelimakj@yahoo.co.uk

Kalpana Bindu & Priya Verma
CMS VATAVARAN Film Festival Directorate
CMS
RESEARCH HOUSE
Saket Community Centre
New Delhi 110017
P: 91-11-24992597 (D) 26522244; F: 91-11-26968282
E: info@cmsvatavaran.org; www.cmsvatavaran.org