For many years Kalakirti Goa Environmental Festival (GEF) has been creating awareness
on the importance of nature and the need to protect it, through various
short-films, cultural programmes, art exhibitions and competitions. As the
festival steps into the sixth year, the team has planned on various activities
which will be held during the three-day event.
The 6th Goa Environment Festival organised by the NGO Kalakriti
will be held at Kala Academy Panaji, from August 31 to September 2, with a
theme ‘Think and Act’ to create awareness among people especially the youth to
conserve the environment.
Governor Dr Mridula Sinha will inaugurate the three -day
festival in the presence of the Chief Guest, Art and Culture Minister, Govind
Gaude, and the Guest of Honour, film actor Makarand Anaspure, who is also the
founder of ‘Naam’ and the Maharashtra Swachh Bharat Ambassador.
During the three-day festival, a photo exhibition on marine
pollution will be exhibited by Captain Rathod, flag officer, Goan Naval area,
accompanied by an interaction with Makarand Anaspure and screening of
competition short films in association with the Entertainment Society of Goa
(ESG).
The aim of the Goa Environmental Film Festival 2018, organized
by ESG is to select short films to spread the message of the environmental
awareness and also to inspire understanding of the environment through the
power of films. The festival’s goal is to offer entertaining and educational
films that leaves attendees with increased awareness of environmental issues
that we face locally and globally
The competition has received around 48 entries which include 23
entries from school, 22 from colleges and rest from others. These films have
duration of six minutes which is shot on any format. Three awards will be
selected from each category. There were two categories: Schools and colleges at
Goan level and individual category at National level. The subjects for the
short films for the schools and colleges was ‘Beat the Plastic’ and for
individuals it was ‘Environment’.
Sticking to tradition, the annual Goa Environment Film awards
will be given to appreciate work done for the environment by an individual and
organisation. The individual award will be given to former president of
Botanical Society of Goa, Dr Hemant Karapukar for his immense work with the
organisation and the government. While for the organisation category, Green
Heritage Eco Club of SFX School, Siolim will be felicitated for their plant
exhibition conducted for three to four days. Along with this, workers of
panchayat and municipalities who maintain hygiene will be awarded.
As part of the festival, the organisers have also completed two
preliminary rounds for the State-level quiz competition wherein 50 teams
participated including 24 teams from Goa and 26 teams from North Goa. The
semi-final and final will also take place on August 31 at the GEF with eight
teams and the semi-final and four teams at the final.
Women can participate in a cooking competition in healthy bottle
gourd and prawns. The foyer area will have a display exhibition for
organisations wherein the Rotary Club of Panaji will display briquettes long
with recycled and reused products showcased by differently-abled schools and
organisation like Sanjay School, Provorim, Anand Niketan, Mapusa and Nari.
A book exhibition will also be organised by the Central library.
A
special song has been penned by scientist and environmentalist Nandkumar Kamat,
music composed by Dilip Vaz and sung by Hema Sardesai along with many Goan
artists. According to the organisers, the song can be considered as an anthem
for the environmental festival as it describes the importance of conserving
mother earth including Goa. The organisers added that these anthem could be
sung at schools and colleges in the future.
