2023-7th BEFF

7th BEFF Babul Eco Film Festival at Hyderabad, Telangana, India June 2023

The 7th BEFF Babul Eco Film Festival – June 1st to 5th, 2023, celebrated Environmental awareness through film and art across multiple locations in Hyderabad. Telangana, India – GNITS, Lamakaan, and Ameerpet Metro Station.

The festival commenced with a traditional tree-planting ceremony (Vruksharopan) performed by GNITS Professor, IT & Dean, Placements & Corporate Relations Sri Ravi Prakash Reddy. 7 BEFF featured a diverse range of submissions from 30 countries. 53 selected films were screened.

Notable awards included the Dr. K Mishra Award to Mathru Pawar for “Dirty Bag”

“The Saraswati Memorial Awards EcoCartoon to Madhuri Kulkarni, Kameshwara Rao, Wesam Khalil, and Tjeerd Royaards, and Short Film Contest awards like the ANAR Award to Pierre Dugowson for “Plastic Shopper” and the Katikam Memorial Award to Herve Brevsaud for “In The Name Of Plants.

” Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to P.V Satheesh (the Millets Man of India) [posthumously] and T Vijayendra (Prolific Author). The award ceremony was graced by chief guests G B K Rao, Tammareddy Bharadwaja, and Rtn Valmiki Harikishan.

The festival Jury consisted of Ajit Kumar Mahendra, N.S Prasad, Ms. Sahera Jamal, and Kavana Mridul.

Some of the Filmmakers connected virtually and presented their films and took questions from the audience. Pierre Dugowson ( “ Plastic Shopper “) , Sergio Gerona, and Pototo Diez Lincessa, ( “The Silence of the Forest,”) also contributed to the Festival’s international scope.

The “FDC FunDuChallenge” Android app, a fundraising initiative, was launched by Ravi Prakash Reddy of GNITS. The app encourages users to participate in a fun and engaging challenge, playfully termed “FunDu,” to raise awareness about The Fundamental Duty as per Article 51A(g) of the Constitution. The project – developing FDC android app – was spearheaded by a team of GNITS students of the IT Department under the mentorship of Sri Ravi Prakash Reddy HoD/Dean, Shaik Sadaf Tabassum, Shivani Naikoti, D. Hima Sri Sai, Ambica Bongirwar, Varsha Myadam and Vanamala Viswalekha. The app’s development and launch were coordinated by M. Bhavani, a faculty member from the IT Department.

Many fun and interactive eco-activities like EcoShooter, EcoCartoon, EcoDoctor, EcoFit, EcoTambola, Who am I and FunDuChallange etc., were part of the Festival. These activities engaged attendees of all ages and helped solidify the connection between Environmental awareness and a healthy lifestyle.

The hashtags for 7th BEFF are #beff2023 and #babulecofilmfestival which helped in creating a buzz in the Social Media. The Film Festival got covered in Telugu & English Print and Electronic media.

We thank the Filmmakers, Audience, the venue partners, Volunteers, Festival team, and nature lovers for making this event a big success.

We look forward to a bigger, improved 8th Babul Eco Film Festival June 2024.