Fest5 International Film Festival: For Environmental Action
Is a film festival only an entertainment, a cinematic showcase? Can it create space for triggering dialogues on environment and science? The four-day Fest5 International Film Festival (F5IFF’25) at Kolkata seeks to deliberate on this through screening of as many as 30 films.
A film festival does not necessarily have to be just a space for viewing films because cinema has always been more than an entertainment; it may also create space for building dialogues.
The screenings could trigger conversations which might inspire collective action — whether it is in our homes, our communities or our policies.
Perhaps Mrs Gauri Basu, consultant at the Union Ministry of Culture, Government of India was not far from truth when she harped on a very relevant factor about film festivals, especially if they happen to be on environment and science.
“A film festival is an extraordinary space where stories come alive, where imagination shapes reality and where collective reflection paves the way for action,” said Mrs Basu shortly after inauguration of the Fest5 International Film Festival (F5IFF’25).
While pointing out that the audience gathered to celebrate films that speak of the earth, of rivers and forests, of species and seasons, she reaffirmed our shared responsibility to protect the fragile balance that sustains life.
“It (cinema) has been a mirror, a witness, a teacher and sometimes even a prophet, reminding us the fact that the environment is not an external issue. It is the very air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil that nourishes us,” asserted Mrs Basu.
The four-day festival, which began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp on 5th September, received over 550 film submissions from 69 countries, reflecting its fast-growing international recognition, with 30 films selected for screening. Films selected contain a sharper thematic focus on environmental concerns and climatic change — issues that resonate globally and define the festival’s identity.
Actually, we stand at a crossroads in history. The choices we make today will shape the world that future generations will inherit. What is important is to ensure that we leave a legacy which is not of loss and depletion, but of resilience, renewal and for reverence for nature. “And in this journey, cinema can be one of our most powerful allies, offering vision, imagination and hope,” the former director of the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) averred.
Earlier, inaugurating the festival, Mamata Shankar, Padma Shri awardee and an acclaimed actress, said that through this festival, voices from across the world come together to speak for nature, culture, and humanity. ” F5IFF is more than a festival, it is a movement that inspires us to think, to feel, and to act for a better tomorrow”.
In fact, a festival like this should act as a beacon, reminding us of what we might protect, inspiring us with what we can achieve and uniting in the shared dream of a sustainable and harmonious planet, Mrs Basu told eastindiastory.com.
With the introduction of such new categories as the Satyajit Ray Student Film Award, Bibliophilia, and Films on Anthropology, the organisers have endeavoured to ensure that the festival does not cater only to a cinematic showcase but also to cultural movement.
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