Wildscreen Festival in India and Sri Lanka – 9-13 February 2009

Nine environmental filmmakers from the UK visited India and Sri Lanka in February as part of the British Council organised Wildscreen Festival.  The festival also saw screenings of wildlife and environmental films from across the world, some of them winners of the Panda Awards, nicknamed the green OSCARS®.  

The Wildscreen Festival was founded by Sir Peter Scott in 1982 and has been organised every alternate year for the past 25 years. It is the world’s largest and most prestigious wildlife and environmental film festival. Held in Bristol, the world’s centre for wildlife filmmaking, it attracts hundreds of delegates from around the globe who work in film, television and the press, as well as those actively involved in working to conserve the environment.

The Wildscreen Festival first came to India in 2007 and toured Delhi, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai.

This time the Festival visited Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Guwahati and Colombo.  The two day programme in each city comprised master classes on various aspects of filmmaking like Trends in Wildlife & Environmental Filmmaking, Editing in the New Digital Age and Managing a Production, amongst others. Award winning films on climate change and wildlife were screened during the Festival.

Harriet Nimmo, Wildscreen’s Chief Executive said, “We are delighted to be returning to India to further develop our relationship with Indian audiences and filmmakers, whilst exploring new markets in Sri Lanka. These countries are key destinations because they are developing fast, with eco-systems which are under threat from rapid economic development and climate change. The films being screened as part of this year’s Festival have an environmental focus, including engaging stories about climate change - and aim to inspire and enthuse those interested in preserving and protecting India’s precious biodiversity.”

Noted Indian filmmakers like Mike Pandey and Sandesh Kadur also shared the Indian perspective and their case studies with the audiences.

The festival was organised as part of the media strand of the British Council project Low Carbon Futures with the aim of capacity development amongst environmental film makers in India.

The festival had a positive impact on the participants who felt ‘’there is still time to save the world’’ and sensitised them to the need to care for the environment so ‘’future generations enjoy a sustainable legacy.’’

As a follow up, film screenings and events were organised around the Wildscreen films across British Council offices in India and Sri Lanka on 5 June, World Environment Day