Film Screening and Discussion: ‘Documentary as a Medium of Environmental Awareness’

Total Number of participants	Total Number of Students	Total Number of Teachers
25	13	12

 

The Departments of Film Studies and Geography in collaboration with the Environmental Development Committee organised a Film Screening and discussion on Tuesday, 25.06.2024 to celebrate ‘World Environment Day’ in Room number 532 (Geography Laboratory) at 2:45 pm onwards. The total of 13 students attended the screening along with 13 teachers from various departments. The purpose of the film screening was to create awareness about the environment, create curiosity in the minds of the students and understand how documentaries can be a powerful tool for generation of awareness.

Two short documentaries were screened. The first one was titled ‘United Voices, Sustainable Solutions’ showed how the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) act as an important Ecological entity performing Ecological services that cater to the city as well as the other non-human species dependent on the wetlands. The second documentary ‘Tales of the Life: Life Amidst Sundarban Tigers’ showed how tigers and humans co-exist in the Indian Sundarban Forests. Both the documentaries were on topics that are very pertinent to the current situation.

A discussion on the significance of ‘World Environment Day’ and the how it is linked to East Kolkata Wetlands and tigers of the Sundarbans were discussed by Ms. Atrayee Biswas and Dr. Uttiya Chattopadhyay, Department of Geography. The programme was moderated by Dr. Debika Banerji, Department of Geography. A discussion on documentary as a medium of film making, its importance as an art and awareness platform was initiated by Mr. Arup Ratan Samajdar, Department of Film Studies. A number of students participated in the discussion with the teachers of the department. Mr. Supratik Sur Roy and Dr. Uttiya Chattopadhyay talked about certain documentaries that have been banned in the country as in conflicts with political interests of various parties.

The session was concluded with a vote of thanks to the Environmental Development Committee and all members of the organising departments. It was hoped that more such awareness programmes would be organised in the future.