Shifting Undercurrents: Women Seaweed Collectors of Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu, India, a documentary produced by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) and directed by Rita Banerji, has won the 7th CMS VATAVARAN International Environment and Wildlife Film Festival award for best film under the Livelihoods section, which it shared with Chronicles of Oblivion, directed by Priyanjan Dutta and produced by Dakshin Foundation and Duleep Mathai Nature Conservation Trust.
In 2012 Shifting Undercurrents had won the second prize at the 9th Annual Jeevika: Asia Livelihood Documentary Festival.
The 2013 edition of the CMS VATAVARAN festival, held during 27 30 August 2013 at New Delhi, attracted a total of 541 entries (337 international and 204 Indian). Eighty-six films were nominated (52 Indian and 34 international) by a 31-member jury headed by Srinivasan Iyer, Assistant Country Director and Head, Energy and Environment Unit, UNDP India.
For the 7th edition of CMS VATAVARAN, , held during 18 20 December, 2013 at New Delhi, a total of 541 entries were received in both the Indian and international categories. The theme for this year’s festival was mainstreaming biodiversity conservation at different levels to promote living in harmony with nature. The theme is significant in the context of the recent 11th Conference of Parties (CoP-11) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held at Hyderabad, India, and the UN Decade on Biodiversity 2011 -2020 (65th session of United Nations General Assembly resolution 65/161).
The awards in the Indian category comprise prize money ranging from Rs50,000 to Rs1, 50,000 each along with a citation and a trophy. Awardees in the international category will also receive trophies and citations.
The award winners for CMS VATAVARAN 2014 were selected by a jury comprising 13 eminent personalities from widely divergent sectors and streams representing environment and wildlife, film, media and communication. Eminent filmmaker, actor and producer, Amol Palekar, headed the jury while award-winning filmmaker Ramesh Sharma chaired the jury for the international awards.
The jury members for the Indian awards were: Amol Palekar (Chairperson); Anupam Joshi, Senior Environmental Specialist, The World Bank, New Delhi; Nagesh Rao, President and Director, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad; Nanditha Krishna, Director, C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation and Founder-Director of C P R Environmental Education Centre (CPREEC); R M S Liberhan , Director, India Habitat Centre (IHC), New Delhi; Sumitra Bhave, Filmmaker, Vichitra Nirmiti, Pune; and Ziya Us Salam, Features Editor, The Hindu, New Delhi.
A statement from the jury on Shifting Undercurrents noted: “The jury appreciated the effort of bringing together the legal, environmental, social and economical tangle through a gender prism”
All ICSF films are available on YouTube:
Smoke in the Water: Problems and Prospects for Developing Artisanal Fish Trade in West Africa (VCD) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMBOoxpnHyo
A Step Forward: A Film on Women Fishworkers in India (VCD) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obGLSVP4TZM
Under the Sun: the transient fisherfolk of Jambudwip(VCD) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRJf2qgX00E
The Right to Survive: Turtle Conservation and Fisheries Livelihood DVD 38 Min http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBi7Od_HRZQ
Shifting Undercurrents: Women Seaweed collectors of Gulf of Mannar, India (English)- DVD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PlpGl3gv44
Shifting Undercurrents: Women Seaweed collectors of Gulf of Mannar, India (Tamil)- DVD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtFZ2nedKjw
Le Droit De Survivre: entre protection des tortues et protection des moyens d’ existence des pecheurs, 38 min. Realise par : Rita Banerji et Shilpi Sharma (French) (DVD)
ICSF is an international NGO that works towards the establishment of equitable, gender-just,self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector.
For more, please visit www.icsf.net
ICSF 2014