Vijaya Mehta to open Vasundhara film fest

PUNE: Veteran stage and film actor Vijaya Mehta will inaugurate the sixth edition of the Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film Festival that will be held in the city from February 18 to 26.
The prestigious Vasundhara awards will be conferred upon filmmaker Krishnendu Bose, activist Babulal Gandhi, city-based organisation ARTI and green teacher Erach Bharucha.This will be followed by a special audio-visual show by environmental activist and writer Bittu Sehgal on 'Communicating Climate Change and Conservation Through Films'.
Other awardees include journalist Bahar Dutt and Ecological Society of India's Prakash Gole, who will be given the lifetime achievement award. Arti Kulkarni will receive the Ramnath Goenka Award as this year's best eco journalist on February 22.
The Vasundhara Sanman will be awarded to environmentalist-activist Sunita Narain in the presence of the chief guest, actor Anupam Kher, during the closing ceremony of the festival on February 26. This will be followed by a special audio-visual lecture by Narain.
The festival will be held at Balgandharva Rangmandir and Ishanya Mall.
Organised by Club Vasundhara and Kirloskar in association with Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) Indradhanyush, the festival is travelling to 25 cities in seven states.
"This year, we have increased the scale of the festival by 50% and we have around 250 experts visiting the festival as awardees, speakers and jury members. We also have a record number of films that will be screened," said festival co-director Virendra Chitrav, during a press conference here on Wednesday.
With more than 120 national and internationally acclaimed short films and documentaries from over 25 countries, the film festival will also include a special category 'My Marathi' for filmmakers from Maharashtra.
An exclusive photography exhibition will be inaugurated by Sehgal on the evening of February 18. A special workshop on wild life and nature photography by head of Wildlife Conservation Trust Anish Andheria and wildlife activist Kiran Purandare is also in the offing. The festival will open with 'A Pestering Journey,' an award-winning film by KR Manoj on the harmful effects of pesticides on human life.
Among the other highlights of the festival are retrospectives on the works by renowned filmmaker from UK Harry Marshall and India's Krishnendu Bose; tributes with screening of the film 'Taking Roots' on the work done by Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai; film screenings on the lives of Indian tribals and their contribution to nature conservation through their traditional practices and four green conferences.
An exclusive session on e-waste will be inaugurated by computer expert Achyut Godbole, who will also deliver a lecture on the global e-waste problem. It will include an appeal to citizens for e-waste collection followed by a presentation by SWaCH.
"Issues like e-waste and sustainability are important and can reach a larger number of people via this festival. The subject should be seriously discussed to arrive upon solutions. So for the PMC, which is working on these issues, this festival is a big platform," said Naresh Zurmure, additional commissioner, PMC.
Allied activities include 'Walk for Sustainability' in and around Pune - Mandai, Lakaki lake, Tambat Aali, Urali Devachi, Aga Khan Palace, Raste Wada and 'taalims' of Pune; workshops on 'My Encounter With Film-making' by Bose; 'Panchtatva Harmony' - a workshop for citizens on exploring the elements in nature by Madhav Gadgil and Bharucha and 'Sustainable Lifestyle' for women.
The festival is replete with audio-visual lectures, open forums, exhibition of eco-friendly products, the Commitment Tree and slogan competition and 'Hirwai', a special cultural programme presented and directed by Chandrakant Kale. The festival will conclude with the screening of the film 'Rain Forest - The Secret of Life' by David Warth that is based on the isolated rain forest in Queensland, New South Wales.