Other Topics : Art Culture - Fashion - Tourism

Latest & Hot Bollywood Film News : * hourly updation

Back to Bollywood Current News Section

Environment filmmaking is all about passion
By Prashant K. Nanda, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) Making films on environment and wildlife is all about passion and commitment, not livelihood, say some British filmmakers.

Filmmakers are not activists and to make films on such issues, they need an extra-ordinary commitment - British filmmakers Dough Allan, Richard Brock and Harriet Nimmo expressed this view during an interaction with IANS.

The filmmakers are here to participate in the ongoing environment film festival "Vatavaran 2005".

"Films on nature are an effective medium of awareness. Making such movies need enormous passion for the subject. You can only produce a good work after relentless perusal of an issue for months or even years," said Allan, renowned cinematographer of "The Blue Planet" that records natural history of the oceans, tropics and animals. 

Allan, who has over 60 films to his credit, said: "For us, it's not a matter of livelihood. If you are a great communicator of images, your work will get due recognition. But before that, you have to accept the hardship."

Richard Brock, the executive producer of Living Planet Productions, said filmmakers have a social responsibility and need to go to the grassroots.

"Unless you understand the ground realities of any situation, it is simply impossible to make it touching. One must go to the remote villages to capture the most valuable images," Brock, who has worked 35 years in the BBC natural history unit, said.

The filmmaker has produced "The Open Ocean" series, which chronicles the evolution of the oceans and their inhabitants. 

Brock's "Life on Earth" and "Living planet" had a huge audience and spoke volumes about different environmental topics. 

Referring to the tigers issue in India, he said there were several aspects to look at.

"You may shoot a film on the beauty of the tiger, or the disappearance of the animal, but at the same time tribals living in and around the area should not be neglected. They are a part of the habitat and any film should feature their concerns too," he said.

Harriet Nimmo, the chief executive of Wildscreen, one of the largest environment film festivals of the world, said: "The obsession for the issue is of paramount importance than anything else".

"It's not the livelihood that comes first for the environment filmmakers. One may not have food for days, but he cannot compromise with the footage. It's the final product that will serve his desire."

"As a passionate communicator, one needs to build bridges between conservation, the media and the public so that better stories can be told to the audience to help raise awareness about the world's bio-diversity," said Nimmo.

On environment filmmaking in India, they said there were many enthusiastic filmmakers who need due publicity and justice. Also, the lack of awareness among the people in the country was pushing these filmmakers to the back foot.