Documentary at CES on 26 October 2016 at 4:45 pm titled "Our Asian Elephants Feature film "Bastion of the Giants"" by Sumesh Lekhi and Mayur Dev from Brave Age Films, New Mumbai

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Topic: 
Our Asian Elephants Feature film "Bastion of the Giants"
Speaker: 
Sumesh Lekhi and Mayur Dev, Brave Age Films, New Mumbai
Date & Time: 
26 Oct 2016 - 4:45pm
Event Type: 
Documentary
Venue: 
CES Seminar Hall, 3rd Floor, Biological Sciences Building
Coffee/Tea: 
Before the talk
Abstract:

We have made a conservation film "Bastion of the Giants" that looks at the picturesque, unique and bio-diverse wetland wildlife habitats of North Eastern India fed by the mighty river Brahmaputra and its tributaries and supporting a tremendous wealth of flora and fauna, among them the Asian Elephant; a flagship species that needs large areas to roam in, thus ensuring protection of large forest areas, but also leading to man-animal conflicts as a large portion of the world's exploding human population lives around these ancient elephant forests, rapidly converting these forests into human use. The film has already won prestigious International Awards like the "Isla Earth Conservancy Award of Merit" by the Catalina Island Conservancy off Los Angeles, "The Best Nature Film Award" at The Barents Ecology film Festival 2016, Russia, "The Best Feature Film of 2015" at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival at New York, "The Audience Award for Best Conservation Film" at the Catalina Film Festival, 2016, off Los Angeles, apart from being a Finalist for the "WWF Malaysia Award 2015" at the Kuala Lampur Eco Festival, the official selection at France's prestigious "Festival international du film Ornithologique de Ménigoute" and Official Selection and screened/being screened at over 15 international film festival across the world including Germany, Finland, Russia, France, Malaysia, USA, Hungary, Estonia, Canada. Some of the festivals being Matsalu Nature Film Festival-Estonia, Wild Vaasa Film Festival-Finland, Naturvision Film Festival-Germany, Kala Ghoda Film Festival-Mumbai, Godollo International Nature Film Festival-Hungary, Columbia Gorge Film Festival-USA, Cinema on the Bayou Film festival,-Louisiana, USA, Awareness Film Festival-Los Angeles,Bushwick Film Festival-New York, Muskoka Film Festival-Ontario, Canada, Lake Erie Arts and Film Festival.

Speaker Bio: 
I am a Chartered Accountant, involved since 2010 in conservation of wetlands, especially in the Oshiwara Lokhandwala Belt in Mumbai, India and also have spent time with forest departments-observing elephants over the years, having recently made the conservation film "Bastion of the Giants". Over the years it has been our endeavor to impart knowledge about the natural world to the younger generation through field trips, presentations and in recent times the film Bastion of the Giants has been a very good platform to take various concepts of conservation to young minds. The Question Answer session after the film have been very engaging for all ages with questions ranging from information on species, their behaviour, how can we conserve them and interestingly many audience members are excited to ask questions and learn about the film making process itself when it comes to wildlife-including exciting wildlife moments, film making team and also how we recorded sound in the film-an aspect of the film handled by my wife Rashmi, who is also co-producer of the film. Mr.Mayur Dev, is an avid wildlife lover, Chef, conservationist and green entrepreneur and has been an ardent supporter of the conservation message of the film and its outreach. Engaging with the younger generation will be one of the foremost ways of protecting the environment and also allowing children to have a stake in their environment and inherit a more wonderful natural heritage. For further details: www.braveagefilms.com and www.facebook.com/bastionofthegiants for amazing insights into Asian Elephants and other stunning wildlife!