Barcelona Convention prize for Ramsar-MedWet award film
Ramsar MedWet award-winning film gets first prize at BLUEweek-MEDday event
Rain
is Falling by Holger Ernst has now been twice nominated
within Mediterranean film events this season. Produced in Morocco the
film earned the Ramsar MedWet award offered at the Ecofilms Festival,
20-25 June, Rodos, Greece. It also shared first prize with Delivery by
Till Novak at the BLUEweek-MEDday where it was screened on 17-19 September
in Antalya, Turkey. Held within the framework of the Barcelona Convention,
BLUEweek-MEDday was a cultural event organised by among others three Activity
Centres (RACs) of the Convention, SPA/RAC, CP/RAC and INFO/RAC.
Below is the press release circulated by UNEP MAP INFO/RAC on the Prizes of the Mediterranean Environmental Award:
Three films emerged unanimously as the winners of the Mediterranean Environmental Award, the Festival that, on this date, will assign this year's prize to the best environmental film and photograph in Kemer, Antalya (Turkey). The initiative was part of BLUEweek-MEDday, an international event to promote culture, nature and sustainable industrial development, organized by three Barcelona Convention Regional Activity Centres (RACs), SPA/RAC, CP/RAC and INFO/RAC, with the collaboration and contribution of the Bonn and Bern Conventions and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), as well as the support of the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea and the Principality of Monaco.
Delivery by Till Novak (Germany) and Rain is Falling by Holger Ernst (Morocco) are the two films that equally share 1st and 2nd place. The two movies, that skilfully use the different techniques of animation and poetic cinematography, approach two different, but equally important issues. The first is the weight of an individual's choice for a (more abstract) global environment, while in the second we are shown the interactions between humans in front of the most critical resource, water.
The 3rd prize of the Mediterranean Environmental Award 2006 goes to the film Amal by Ali BENKIRANE (Morocco-France), for providing a sensitive and human description of the vicious circle of poverty and lack of education, as well as the role of women.
The International Jury of the festival, consisting of Ms. Gozde DOGAN (UNDP), Mr. Yimaz ATADENIZ (Director), Mr. Lello PIAZZA (environmental journalist), Mr. Enis RIZA (Association Documentary Filmakers), Mr. Harry TZANNIS (journalist) and chaired by Mr. Spyros KOUVELIS (president, Rodos International Festival - Ecofilms), viewed 21 films from all over the world and stated: "The three winning films emerged unanimously because of their effective and technically very good approach to important issues, including the scarce and critical natural resources and their relation to human society, the importance of individual choice and responsibility of everyone for the environment, and the role of empowerment and human capacity".
This first edition of BLUEweek-MEDday, ended today, 19 September 2006, also hosted a Conference to exchange data and discuss conservation measures for the protection of the Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus), the world's rarest seal, the photo exhibition Made in Med and seminars on Best Environmental Practices for the tanning industry and on the introduction of Eco-management in University curricula. The initiative is to be considered as a general rehearsal toward the organization of MEDday, an annual Meeting to be launched in 2007 and included in Horizon 2020, the Environment Strategy for the Mediterranean promoted by the European Commission. During this coming initiative, several events, lead by the BARCELONA CONVENTION, will be simultaneously held throughout the Mediterranean involving institutions, private sector and civil society to promote public awareness.
Source: Paola RICHARD, Press Officer INFO/RAC
Sofia
Spirou
Communications
Officer
MedWet Coordination Unit
Villa Kazouli, Kifissias & Lambraki 1, 14561 Athens, Greece
Tel: (+30) 210 - 80 89 270 Fax (+30) 210 - 80 89 274
url: www.medwet.org
e-mail sofia@medwet.org
For
further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact
the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28,
CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169,
e-mail 
).
Posted 29 September 2006, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.
