Case3-February-2013
The Eighth developmental film festival on climate change and Food security was organized from 28th to 30th , 2013 at DHAN Foundation Plaza which had an overwhelming response from the public, media persons, professionals and students engaged in short film making.
The inauguration of the event was done by Dr.(Mrs). Kalyani Mathivaanan, Vice-Chancellor Madurai Kamaraj University, who in her inaugural speech spoke about the climate change and its future impact on food security. She spoke that the effect of climate change on agriculture is more significant since it will directly affect the basic need of our life- the food. Climate change is expected to increase the imbalance in food production and the tropical countries are the one which are going to be most affected. We have no other alternative but to change ourselves and adapt our agricultural practices and food habits in tune with the changing climate. The scarcity of like water and fertile land together with climate change, will pose a serious threat in future even for ensuring right quantity of food to all. She lauded the effort of DHAN for conducting the film festival on a theme that needs much attention in the present scenario.
Dr. SP.Sundaram, Dean-in-charge, Ac & RI, TNAU, Madurai in his special address discussed in detail about the causes of climate change and the agricultural universities efforts in increasing productivity through climate sensitive approaches. Mr A.Gurunathan, CEO,Vayalagam Foundation shared about the role of tanks in combating climate change. Mr.Maha. Somas Kandhamurthi, Station Director, All India Radio, Madurai appreciated the effort on DHAN for organizing film festivals every year on most important development issues. The event was coordinated by Mr.Venketasubramanian, CDC.
There were more than 200 participants each day, most of them being students from different colleges in and around Madurai. The participation of students from Agricultural college and Research Institute, TNAU, Madurai, Vellaisamy Nadar college, American college and Fathima college as spectators added value to the event. The most promising part is the interest of students in making short films with developmental concern, some of whose films were selected for screening.
The Development Film Festival organized by DHAN is stands apart from other film festivals organized in the country in that the theme for the festival every year revolves around a specific developmental issue that has to be addressed for making the society and world a better place to live. It also serves as an creative platform for the film makers with social concern to showcase their works. The Festival organized every year to raise public awareness and to promote the public view, debate and meaningful action around the issues. Seven film festivals were held prior to this which too had a good response. The First edition of the film festival focused on poverty, from a larger perspective on water, environment, gender, education, health and culture. The second festival focused on Water and life. The third edition of the Festival was again focused on ‘Water and People’. The fourth edition of the Festival focused on ‘Culture and Heritage’. The fifth edition was on ‘Fight Poverty: Connect and Commit for MDGs’. The sixth edition of the festival, held in 2010 focused on Democracy and Development. The theme of the seventh edition of the development film festival, was on “Livelihood and Poverty” The filmmakers from all over the world responded overwhelmingly in all these festivals.
Climate change is expected to increase the imbalance in food production, the temperature and rainfall variations (onset of monsoon, changes in duration, frequency and quantity of rains) and the tropical countries are the one which are going to be the most affected. In fact the climate change has already happened. Changes in temperature and water availability will drastically impact food production and food security of the people. The Millennium Development Goal aims to reduce the proportion of people suffering from undernourishment by half by 2015, which indeed is a difficult task considering the present situation of climate change, threat to agricultural productivity and increasing food demands over the years due to increasing population. Ensuring nutritive food for all, is a challenge in the present circumstances. Food production in tropical countries is expected to be affected more and the resultant food crisis will affect the people in tropical developing countries especially the poor and vulnerable communities.
Considering the issues and challenges in food and nutrition security to the poor and vulnerable communities, the theme for the eighth edition of Development Film Festival is fixed as “Climate change and Food Security”
The films for screening were selected by a panel comprising of film makers, development practitioners and academicians. Films were screened to the public of Madurai, including school and college students. The films were subjected to preliminary screening by a panel consisting of a subject matter specialist and two persons with rich experience in editing and photography. Each film are rated for 50 points under the following criteria’s
Among the Indian films, nine films which scored high marks (average taken) were selected for screening. Three international films, which scored high marks, were selected for special screening
Each day three films were screened under award category and one film was screened in the special category. Totally twelve films were screened in three days. The following three films emerged as winners based on the rating of the panel.
| Title of the Film | Earth Witness-Reflections of the Time and the Timeless. |
|---|---|
| Director | Akansha Joshi/Rajiv Mehotra |
| Film Maker/ Producer | PSBT |
| Duration | 60 minutes |
Four Common People- a teacher, a farmer, a shepherd and a father, find themselves on the front line of earth’s biggest and complex crisis: Climate Change and Food Security. Pictured in four different ecosystems- Mountain ecosystem of Nagaland, the Grassland ecosystem in Kutch, the Coastal ecosystem near Ganges and the Forest ecosystem of Central India, the film the live journeys of these four people on climate change and environmental perspective.
| Title of the Film | Seeds of Dissent |
|---|---|
| Director | Pankaj Rishi Kumar |
| Producer | PSBT |
| Duration | 50 minutes |
The film portrays how agriculture and farmers gets affected due to industrialization, improper credit systems, no appropriate price for the produce etc., The distress of farmers in different states from Kanyakumari in Tamilnadu to Dehradun was captured in the eyes of the people taking up a cycle rally to safeguard farmers and agriculture.
| Title of the Film | Cotton of my Shroud |
|---|---|
| Director/Producer | Nandhan Saxenna/Kavitha Bhai |
| Duration | 75 minutes |
Farmers in Vidharba and other surrounding districts of Maharashtra were forced to commit suicide due to crop failures and lack of appropriate price for cotton. Lured by the marketing techniques of the multinationals the farmers switched over to Bt cotton. The Bt cotton forced farmers to incur more expenditure from seeds to other inputs, forcing them to borrow more. Unable to repay the debts, the farmers were forced to sell their lands and other assets and as an extreme step they commit suicide.