A Bangladeshi documentary on the world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarbans titled ‘The Last of The Bengals’ will be screened at Germany’s oldest international nature and environmental film festival NaturVision.The three-day festival that started on Thursday in the German town of Ludwigsburg features a number of the world’s ‘most interesting and stunning’ documentaries and feature films related to nature, wildlife and environment.
‘The Last of The Bengals’, produced by Dhaka-based new media studio GREEN Ink, was selected for screening as it appealed to the selection committee with its unique approach of combing global issues with the portrayal of the struggle for survival in the daily lives of the Sundarbans people.
It would be the first Bangladeshi film ever to be featured in the festival, the production house says.
“NaturVision showcases films that deal with the beauty and fascination of nature and animals, but also wants to emphasize the threat to nature and wildlife. The Last of The Bengals is an excellent example of that,” NaturVision festival manager Kay Hoffmann was quoted as saying in a media release.
The documentary aims to raise awareness about the dire state of the Sundarbans ecosystem, Bangladesh’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site and last refuge of the Royal Bengal Tiger whose numbers are dwindling.
During the shooting of the documentary, the filmmakers soon realized that not only the tigers are threatened with extinction, but the entire Sundarbans.
People are facing the direct effects of climate change and live in permanent danger of animosity with the Bengal Tigers.
“We want to educate people not only in Bangladesh but around the globe about the destruction of Sundarbans,” GREEN ink CEO Ehsan Kabir said in a media release.
The film will be screened at the German festival on Saturday. – bdnews24.com
