Nirmala College in Muvattupuzha, is hosting the fifth Rain International Nature Film Festival (RINFF) this year on March 23-24. 'The Heart of Baikal,' a Russian film in the competition category will be the inaugural movie. It will be screened at 10 am on Thursday at the college auditorium after a function presided over by the college principal, Dr Thomas KV.
As many as 23 feature films will be screened in the competition section. The jury chairman of the international competition segment is noted filmmaker, Girish Kasaravalli. Actress-director Bijaya Jena, and director Kaviyoor Sivaprasad are the jury members.
Noted film journalist Dr Khalid Ali is the international programmer. The concluding film will be the movie selected for the Silver Elephant Prize for the best feature film. Apart from the international competition segment, a contest of short films and documentaries for school and college students is also being organised.
The best film by school students will be awarded the Golden Owl Prize and the best college movie will get Golden Hornbill Prize. Any movie that wins a special jury mention in this category will be awarded the Silver Butterfly Prize.
RINFF, organized by Birds Club International and Jayaraj Foundation is the international contest venue where movies aimed at spreading the message of nature conservation compete. This year's 'Prakriti Puraskar', the Golden Elephant lifetime achievement award for the overall contribution towards the conservation of nature will be conferred on renowned environmentalist and writer Dr E Unnikrishnan, who is popularly known as Kavunni.
Noted actor-director-script writer Renji Panicker will be the chief guest. Ace national award-winning filmmaker Jayaraj, who is the festival director, will introduce the guests to the audience.
"This film festival aims to bring together ecologically aware filmmakers from around the world in order to showcase their works, facilitating an authentic platform for raising environmental awareness," Jayaraj said in his message on the eve of the festival. As usual, this year too the winner of 'Prakriti Puraskar' will be inaugurating the festival.
