Press Release
Chennai, October 6, 2006

2nd Chennai CMS Vatavaran 2006 Opens in the City Today

CMS VATAVARAN 2006, India’s premier environment and wildlife traveling film festival opened today amidst a full house for the second time in Chennai at Kalaivanar Arangam. It was held for the first time in November 2004. Organised by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), New Delhi, and CPR Environmental Education Centre, Chennai, this festival showcases award winning India films on an array of films on topical, Indian environment and wildlife issues for the second time in the city.

Inaugurating the festival, Ms. Revathy Menon, the Chief Guest said “The mass media should take the onus for sensitising the public about nature and how it is being disfigured by the unbridled greed of certain section of the society”. Further she added, “As individuals we all must do our bit to save the environment that we leave behind to our future generations.“

Ms. P.N. Vasanti, Director, Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi emphasized upon the commitment to spread environmental awareness to every nook and corner of the country. She added that CMS Vatavaran Traveling Festival is an effort in that direction. Apart from the festival here at Chennai CMS Vatavaran Travelling Festival will also be organized in four more cities this year namely Bangalore (starting from today), Guwahati, Hyderabad and Ranchi. The festival has already gone international with Abu Dhabhi, UAE CMS Vatavaran in 2006. This year the festival has already been held at Chandigarh and Kashmir for the very first time where it has been a grand success.

Mr. Siddhartha Behura, from the Ministry of Environment and Forest said it is very important to maintain ecological balance and respect the environment to have a goodlife. The children are the future of the society and to have such environmental and wildlife film festival which sensitize the children, making them environmentally aware is the need of the hour.

Eminent Wildlife and Environment Filmmaker Shekhar Dattatri and Wildlife Cinematographer Mr. Alphonse Roy were felicitated at the occasion, for their relentless effort to bring wildlife concerns of the land in to the forefront.

Flagging off this unique festival film was Shekhar Dattatri ‘s Film Point Calimere - A Little Kingdom by the coast, premiering at the festival. Based on the unique sanctuary by the sea in tamil nadu, famous for its blackbucks, flamingoes, this film offers a glimpse into this remarkable ecosystem and the problems that confront it.

Present at the Film Festival was the Delhi based filmmaker, Ms. Nutan Manmohan, the winner of Oriental Bird Conservation’s - Wild Wing Award (UK) for her film ‘The last Flight’.

As a part of the film festival, CMS Vatavaran has organised a workshop - "Environmental Film Making – Opportunities and Constrains", organized in association with the CPR Environmental Education Centre, Chennai.

The festival also has a host of activities such as Film Bazaar, Wildlife Photography exhibition and discussions with eminent filmmakers. Film Bazaar will provide an opportunity to people to buy exclusive and intriguing CMS Vatavaran films.

The 3-day festival will have special screenings for school students in the morning and for college students and general public in the evenings respectively.

The inauguration ceremony saw the presence of senior officers from the governments of Tamil Nadu, Principals and teachers from schools and colleges, academicians from the university and leading research organizations as well as the general public.

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The Organisers
C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre (CPREEC) is a Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, established jointly by the Ministry and the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation. CPREEC has been set up to increase consciousness and knowledge about the environment and the major environmental problems facing the country today. It has been conducting a variety of programmes to spread awareness and interest among teachers, NGOs, women and youth, on all aspects of the environment and ecology, with the purpose of promoting conservation of nature and natural resources. www.cpreec.org

Centre for Media Studies (CMS) is an independent professional forum engaged in research, policy advocacy, advisory services and programme evaluation. CMS endeavors for accountability, responsiveness and transparency in policy making in public systems and services. Over the past 17 years, CMS has emerged as an inter-disciplinary professional body with a wide range of concerns and capability in areas of communication studies, social research, social development, environment, public opinion research, training and performance appraisal. CMS initiatives in regard to regulatory framework, including for the environment, social sector and media, are well known. CMS is well known for its survey methodologies and field research, both qualitative and quantitative, including largescale national studies. CMS operates through specialized teams of professionals with multidimensional expertise. The teams are CMS Environment, CMS Social, CMS Communication, CMS Academy and CMS Polls. CMS VATAVARAN film festival is yet another well known endeavour over the past four years. www.cmsindia.org / www.cmsvatavaran.org

For more information contact:
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
Priya Verma / Mou Biswas
M: 98999 79165 / 98990 46582