‘Travelling Uranium Film Festival’ from today

The Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal Film Study Centre, Manipal University, will organise “The Travelling Uranium Film Festival” here on January 19 and 20.

In a press release issued here on Wednesday, Varadesh Hiregange, director of the institute, said that a one of its kind, this international film festival was dedicated to independent documentaries and movies about nuclear power and the nuclear fuel chain from uranium mining, nuclear bombs to nuclear waste, from Hiroshima to Fukushima.

Originating in Rio de Janeiro in 2011, the festival has travelled across Europe and has now come to India. After successful screenings in New Delhi, Shillong and Ranchi, the film festival is set to showcase many important documentaries and movies about nuclear issues that never reached the mass media.

Drawn from across continents and countries, the films offer a wide range of experiences related to uranium mining and its impact, government policies, market economy and people’s struggles. Thus, the festival attempts to engage people in a debate about the whole nuclear fuel chain. The two-day festival will screen films such as - Atomic Bombs on the Planet Earth (The Netherlands), Gound zero – Sacred Ground (U.S.), The Secret and the Sacred - Two Worlds at Los Alamos (Germany), Deadly Deception (U.S.), The Third Nuclear Bomb - The Veteran’s Accusation (Italy), Jadugoda - The Black Magic (India), When the Dust Settles (Australia), Yellow-Cake: The dirt behind nuclear energy (Germany), Chernobyl – The invisible thief (Germany), Radioactive Wolves (Austria), The Red Button (Poland), and Beating the Bomb (U.K.).

The two-day festival is scheduled from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on January 19, and 9.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on January 20. Screening and discussions will be held at the AC Seminar Hall on the MIT campus here and is open for all.

Marcia Gomes from Rio de Janeiro and film-maker Shriprakash will interact with film viewers. Norbert G. Suchanek, director of the festival, will inaugurate the event at 4 p.m. on January 19. Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University K. Ramnarayan will be the chief guest. Veteran journalist M.V. Kamath will preside over the inaugural function.