Virtual Film Festival Brings Environmental Films From Across The World To One Platform
Since 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everything that had public participation had to be either cancelled or were forced to go virtual.
Flim festivals that thrived on the energy from the participants have also gone virtual in the past two years, as the organizers felt that it was important to spread the message, irrespective of how it is done.
All Living Things Environmental Film Festival, a film festival that is dedicated to films on the environment, conservation and sustainability was conceived as an event that would bring such movies from India and across the world to audiences here.
But in 2020, the first edition of the ALT EFF was forced to go virtual due to the pandemic, and this year, too it is happening without in-person attendance.
What is this festival?
Kunal Khanna, the founder, and director of ALT EFF said more than 125 films from across the world on different environmental themes were submitted for the festival, from which 40 were selected for the screening.
"We stated in 2020, and it was conceived as an in-person event. But due to COVID-19, it became a virtual event. This is the second year and we did it virtually this time as well. We hope that from next year it can be an in-person event," Khanna told Indiatimes.?
In 2020 the virtual event saw the participation of nearly 5,000 people, which was doubled this year.
Out of the 40 films, 33 are being screened in India for the first time.
One of the Indian films screened at the festival was Moving upstream - Ganga a documentary, filmed on a walk along River Ganga.
The walk took place between June 2016 and April 2017, starting from Ganga Sagar in West Bengal and finishing at Gangotri in Uttarakhand.
"The film talks about the River Ganga, in a way urban audiences have not been told about. It covers the day-to-day life of the rive and the people around it from the urban perspective. We have covered all aspects, from pollution to dams, sedimentation and everything that is happening around it" Shridhar Sudhir the director of Moving upstream - Ganga told Indiatimes.
Another Indian film screed at the festival was 'The last hope' directed by Pradeep Hegde and Dheeraj Aithal.
It features two men C R Naik, Clinton Vaz and their struggles to save India's frogs.
The documentary was shot over a period of three years in the Western Ghats during the monsoons.
Naik, a deputy range forest officer, is also a self-taught scientist who discovered a new species - Karavalli Skittering Frog which was first found in his village Sanekatte.
He has also been a crusader to bust the bull frog smuggling racket in Uttara Kannada District.
Vaz from Goa is an activist trying to end smuggling and illegal consumption of frogs there.
"This is a film about two common men who have been doing their bit to save the frogs. We got to know about Naik from the news about the discovery of the new frog species," Aithal told Indiatimes.
"The two people represent their respective communities and how they play a key role in saving the frogs," Hegde said.
The film was shot between 2016 and 2019, which the directors said crowdfunded.
"The film took this long for several reasons, first being the frog itself. Since they come out only in monsoon, we could only shoot during the season. Even in the monsoons spotting them is difficult. The next was money. We started with a little money from our friends and family. Later we began crowdfunding. In the meantime, we also had to support ourselves doing other jobs. Most of the equipment was borrowed from other filmmakers. So only when the equipment was available we could shoot," the duo explained.
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