Oscar-nominated Moti Bagh wins big at the second All Living Things – Environmental Film Festival, see the list of all the winners

Mumbai : the topic of the environment has become a focal point of debate more than ever before. It needs our attention and our participatory concern for its betterment. What better way to draw people’s attention towards subjects related to all living things, environmental than the medium of cinema. After all, it is the most accepted form of communication.

The All Living Things Environmental Film Festival is India’s only and first environment cinema-based festival. Now in its 2nd year, the festival has roped in a great jury this year including internationally acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Micheal Snyder, six-time National Award-winning filmmaker – Anand Patwardhan, and Amin Hajee. This year the festival had 44 films from 31 countries being screened – all themed around topics of environment, conservation, climate change, and other related matters. Whatmore, Sophy Vsivaraman, who is the head of the India Documentary Foundation, has joined the advisory board this year along with the legendary environmental docu filmmaker Mike Pandey.

Speaking of the winners, each director brought in a fresh perspective towards issues pertaining to the environment and all its ancillary factors. The categories included International Shorts where the film Shaba, focused on wildlife conservation of elephants, directed by Ami Vitale won people’s hearts and the award. Moving forward, in the category of International Features, two films took home the directorial honors. Ophir focused on the heart-breaking colonization of an indigenous community directed by the duo, Alexandre Berman, Olivier Pollet, and Youth v Gov focused on the American youth taking on the world’s most powerful government, directed by Christi Cooper. In the category of Indian Shorts, director duo, Dheeraj Aithal, and Pradeep Hegde focused on the fate of an animal that has been omnipresent in the fabric of Indian society- the frog. It won the attention of people and the award. Moving on to the category of Indian Features, the winner, Moti Bagh directed by Nirmal Chander, is the heartwrenching tale of Uttarakhand’s ghost villages. Last but not the least, in the category of Student Films, budding director, Ellie Stones took home the award for her dedicated effort in the film, The Pangolin Man, trying to save the most illegally traded mammal in the world; the pangolin

Speaking on the occasion, Oscar nominee Nirmal Chander congratulated the team of ALT EFF for creating a platform that allows environmentalists and moviemakers to work together to form a unified voice for the environment. Talking about his film, Nirmal says, “In a world where there is no dearth of content anymore, it is sometimes difficult to get people to notice your work. The battle is all the more difficult if one is not catering to pop culture. Moti Bagh was not an easy process. It is an honest depiction of the plight of the villages in Uttarakhand. He is happy the jury at ALT EFF believed in his work and the world will now know about it because of his Oscar nomination. It just makes things a lot easier, says the elated Oscar nominee.”

Here’s a complete list of the nominees in each category:

International Shorts:
Shaba – Directed by Ami Vitale (Winner)
The Tracker – Directed by Sarah Menzies
Sky Aeleans – Directed by Georgianna Lepping, Jeremy Gwao, Regina Lepping, Zahiyd Namo, Junior Patrick Makau, Manner Lévo, Neil Nuia, Daniel Kakadi, Edward Manuga

International Features:
Ophir – Directed by Alexandre Berman, Olivier Pollet (Winner)
Youth v Gov – Directed by Christi Cooper (Winner)
To Which We Belong – Directed by Pamela Tanner Boll and Lindsay Richardson
The Wall of Shadows – Directed By Eliza Kubarska

Indian Shorts:
The Last Hop(e) – Directed by Dheeraj Aithal and Pradeep Hegde(Winner)
Your Tiger, Our Forest – Directed by Ishan Sharma
Sagarputra: Offspring of the Sea – Directed by Pooja Das Sarkar

Indian Features:
MOTI BAGH – Directed by Nirmal Chander (Winner)
Moving Upstream: Ganga – Directed by Shridhar Sudhir
A Rifle and a Bag – Directed by Isabella Rinaldi, Cristina Hanes, and Arya Rothe

Student Films:
The Pangolin Man – Directed by Ellie Stones (Winner)
Dhivarah – Directed by Giridhar Nayak K
Solastalgia – Directed by Gabrielė Urbonaitė