Amol Palekar heads jury of film fest on environment

Veteran actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar watched 86 movies as the head of jury for the seventh CMS VATAVARAN - International Environment and Wildlife Film Festival and Forum, which will start here Jan 30.

He headed the 12-member jury and saw more than 24 hours of national and international films competing at the fest, which is an outcome of not-for-profit organisation Centre for Media Studies' core commitment to go "beyond research".

Amol is "glad to be a part of the green movement, to protect and celebrate our nature by being a part of the CMS Vatavaran Award jury".

"Films are a powerful medium of change and I hope award winning films are used extensively for the same," the 69-year-old, known for his films "Baaton Baaton Mein" and "Gol Maal", said in a statement.

The jury committee comprised 13 experts from widely divergent sectors and streams representing environment, film and media and communication.

Based on discussions, the jury has selected the awards - 15 in national category and 12 in international.

A total of 541 entries were received in both categories. From these, 86 have been nominated in 11 categories by the nomination jury of 31 experts headed by Srinivasan Iyer, assistant country director and head, Energy and Environment Unit, United Nations Development Programme India.

The awards will be announced and presented Feb 2 during the CMS VATAVARAN-Environment and Wildlife Film Festival and Forum, scheduled from Jan 30-Feb 3 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts lawns.