Kirloskar Vasundhara Film Festival to be held on Jan 4

It’s raining film festivals in Pune. The Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film Festival will be held on January 4 till January 11. The theme this year is ‘Save River, Save Life’. It will be held at the Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagruha and will have Dr Vikas Amte as the inaugural guest.

This features a Photography Exhibition which is to be inaugurated at the hands of renowned photographer Dinesh Kumble (Bengaluru) on 6th Jan at 6 pm at Kirloskar Campus, Kothrud followed by his audio visual presentation – ‘My Encounter with Camera’. He is keen and passionate about spreading his knowledge through focused tutorials and workshops at Mindscreen Film Institute. Kumble has documented three books on wildlife with the African Dream Safari. He is very meticulous about his work, which has amply reflected in his books. He is also associated with two of the most prestigious and intricate documentations commissioned by the Gujarat Government. Also to his credit is a coffee table book, ‘Gujarat’s Vibrant Wildlife’ and ‘Kutch: A pictorial journey’.

The eleventh festival will showcase 156 films which are nationally and internationally acclaimed documentaries, short films and award winning films. They will be based on environmental issues, problems, positive efforts, success stories and wildlife from 26 countries such as India, France, UK, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, USA, Indonesia, Mexico, UAE, Canada, Alaska, Israel, Bangladesh, Brazil and many more.

The ‘Kirloskar Vasundhara Gauravs’ is an honour that will features the ‘Puneri Pagadi’, the ‘Uparana’, Citation and a Memento. The causes and concerns addressed by this award are:

  • Agrani Rejuvenation Sangli, Maharashtra (‘Vasundhara Gaurav’)

Inspired by The Kirloskar Vasundhara International Film Festival, residents of nine villages in Sangli district of western Maharashtra have come together to rejuvenate the Agrani river, that flows near their villages. The project is planned by the non-governmental organization Jal Biradari who are teaming up with local residents to overcome the problem. The villagers realized that there was no alternative to secure a sustainable water source other than rejuvenating the river. The entire project will be implemented in a span of around three to five years. The project will benefit about 20,000 villagers and about 10,000 cattle in nine villages. This will also provide for irrigation facilities for about 4,500 hectare land would also

  • Manjra Rejuvenation Latur, Maharashtra (‘Vasundhara Gaurav’)

The project involves desilting 18km along the Sai barrage to increase its holding capacity to 18.5 million cubic metres. Latur requires 18.25 million cubic meter water per annum. Plans are to remove about 45 lakh cubic metre of silt. In 2013, we succeeded in convincing people in three villages in Latur district to pool in money to carry out desilting work as well as construct low-cost Gabion structures to trap rain water. This helped increase the water level in bore wells and wells in surrounding villages and helped maintain the greenery. Gradually, more villages joined the movement. Though AOL funded a part of it, people contributed too. Thus, 50 smaller projects were completed.

  • Ramnadi Rejuvenation Pune, Maharashtra (‘Vasundhara Gaurav’)

In 2008, Ramnadi Swachhata Abhiyan was undertaken by Vasundhara Swachhata Abhiyan. Saplings were planted on the bank of Ramnadi. This mission was continued till 2012. During this period many River Conservationist like Rajendrasingh Rana, Vijay Paranjpae have visited and taken part in this movement.

 

 

Pune365 : Reproduced here is a press note that has been edited only for brevity and does not purport to be part of the core content of Pune365. 

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