As part of the celebrations of 75 years of India’s independence, India’s permanent mission to the UN organised a special screening of 12 original short films from different countries in Geneva on Thursday.

12 original short films from India, Switzerland, US, Italy, France, Brazil, Greece, Mexico, Morocco and Burkina Faso – produced under the auspices of the UN Conference on Bifodiversity and the World Academy of Art and Science – were screened at the event titled ‘Interactions, When Cinema Looks To Nature’.

The screening was organized at the Geneva Graduate Institute in partnership with the Consulate General of India and in collaboration with ‘ART for the World’.

More than 200 people, including permanent representatives and delegates to the UN and other members of the diplomatic corps, students, and film aficionados attended the screening and appreciated the creativity, sensitivity and range of stories told by the 12 renowned international filmmakers, including Nila Madhab Panda from India.

The short films explore connections between humans and nature through themes of biodiversity, conservation, deforestation, health, marine life, species extinction, and water.

Permanent representative of India to the UN, Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey spoke of the Indian cultural heritage and practices of preserving and protecting the environment, India’s civilizational ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or ‘the world is one family’ as also reflected in India’s G20 Presidency theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ and Mission LiFE or ‘lifestyle for environment’.

Recalling ‘The Elephant Whisperers’, an Indian short documentary that won the 2023 Academy Award, ambassador Pandey highlighted the importance of cinema in India as an effective vehicle for social messaging.

The anthology’s Indian film, made by national award-winning director and Padma Shri awardee Nila Madhab Panda, told the true story of a village in Kerala that chose to give up its ancestral lands to make way for an elephant corridor, recognising and respecting the need for humans and animals to co-exist.

Both the film’s theme and its execution were very well received, with the audience appreciating the generosity of spirit and emotions portrayed in it.

Participating in a panel discussion with ART for the World president Adelina von Furstenberg, Panda highlighted the Indian cultural ethos of respect and care for nature and animals, also reflected in the traditions of worshipping nature and animals.

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