Twenty one finalists have been chosen in the 'Forests for People' Short Film Festival which aims to honor the creative efforts of film makers who visually capture how forests inspire, shelter, nurture and contribute to our lives.
The first such festival in celebration of the International Year of Forests has been launched by the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat in partnership with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival (JHWFF).
The finalists were selected by a jury composed of internationally-lauded film makers and senior UN officials. The festival received 127 entries from 38 countries.
Five winners will be announced and awarded during the tenth session of the Forum on Forests in Istanbul at an awards event on 10 April 2013.
Each of the films spotlights a different facet of the dynamic relationship between forests and people -- from animated films on adaptation and the global commons and evocative calls for advocacy on mangrove reforestation, to tales of unique heroism and personal journeys of discovery and connections with forests.
The selected films can be seen here: http://www.un.org/esa/forests/international-day-of-forests/video.html
The 21 finalists, listed in alphabetical order, are:
A Forest Forever by Aaron Smart, New Zealand
A Forest Year by Samuel Orr, USA
Adaptación by Sofia Carrillo, Mexico
Amazing Grace by Rowan Pybus, South Africa
An Unseen World by Paul Rosolie, USA
Consequences by John Little, USA
Feel like a Mountain by Elio Alonso Vasquez Miranda, Peru/Norway
Global Commons by Charuvi Agrawal, India
Ma forêt by Sébastien Pins, Belgium
Mbuti: Children of the Forest by Molly Feltner, USA
Reynaldo by Dan Childs & Nick Werber, UK
Santuario by Pablo Chavarría Gutiérrez, Mexico
Terraba: An Indigenous Relationship with the Rainforest by Ashley Deese, USA
The Beauty of Mangrove Forests by Dennis Zaidi, Bahamas/Canada
The Forest by Michael Edwards, UK
The Forest by Gavin Shand, UK
The Mother Forest by Maria Luz Fang-asan, the Philippines
The Water Forest by Rosa Rogers, UK
Our Little World by Apip Rea, Indonesia
What's Happening In Our Forest? by Jamie Cundiff, USA
Wither GUNDIA? By Kesari Harvoo
