Young Indian filmmakers with original ideas on the theme of Wildlife Crime were invited to send in their proposals for the UK Environment Film Fellowship 2006. The fellowship will be awarded to filmmakers whose concept demonstrates originality in terms of topical relevance and technical excellence. The Filmmaker will identify an Indian or UK-based conservation agency - environment or wildlife conservation organisation / environment expert working on projects for raising public awareness to combat wildlife crimes issues with whom they will work closely during making of the film.

The winners of the UK Environment Film Fellowships for 2006 on wildlife crime are

• Sonya V. Kapoor - Once there was a purple butterfly
  The film focuses on the extinction of  butterflies in the Indian subcontinent.
  
• Gurmeet Sapal - Killers of the king
  The proposed film aims to capture the beauty and vulnerability of leopards; their threatening, as well as, threatened existence in the hills of Uttaranchal.
  
• Himanshu Malhotra – Vanishing Seas
  The film will deal with the unexplored world of marine trade which is depleting our seas, endangering our waters and destroying our habitat.
  
• Jay Mazoomdar – The Hunted
  The film aims to address the tiger trade by disengaging the forest-dwelling hunter and offering them viable livelihood options.
  
• Kalpana Subramanian - Turtles in a soup
  The film will focus on turtle poaching and trade in the Gangetic river basin and Kolkata markets.
  
• Ashima Narain - The Last Dance
  The film deals with poaching and trade of the Indian Sloth bear. This story intends to highlight the intricate poaching syndicate within India and across it's borders.
  
• Balan - The Silenced Witness
  The film focuses on crimes on Elephants in Kerala - both domesticated and wild.

These films are scheduled to be completed by December 2006 and will be aired on Discovery Channel and screened at the Wildscreen Festival in India to be held in January 2007.

The jury for the UK Environment Film Fellowships for 2006 comprised of:

• Mr R P S Katwal, Additional Director General - Forest ( Wildlife) & Director, Wildlife Preservation, Government of India
• Mr Mike Pandey, Environment Filmmaker & Conservationist
• Ms Nicola Murray, Programme Management Department, FCO
• Dr S M Nair, Director, Centre of Environment Education
• Mr Sudheer Nair, Associate Director, Programming, Animal Planet

The UK Environment Film Fellowships for 2006 on wildlife crime is funded by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) from the WSSD Implementation Fund under the UK India Sustainable Development Dialogue. For more information about Defra please visit Defra website.

Wildscreen Festival: The Wildscreen Festival is internationally acknowledged as the most prestigious event of its kind in the world. For further information about Wildscreen, please visit Wild Screen Festival website.