A DELHITE'S PASSION FOR WILDLIFE FILMS

[Guest guest]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060115/society.htm#3

 

Filming wildlife for a cause

Vishal Gulati

 

 

Documenting wildlife is a passion with Syed Fayaz

 

Deteriorating environment and the threat to flora and fauna worries

the Delhi-based filmmaker, Syed Fayaz, who has four investigative

wildlife documentaries to his credit.

 

" Documentaries are an effective medium to sensitise the common man

about the deteriorating biodiversity, " believes Fayaz. One of his

investigative documentaries is on the endangered otter in India.

 

....And Then There Were None, the 15-minute documentary on the rampant

poaching of the otter, shot in Jammu and Kashmir, focuses on the

shocking illegal trade of the animal. The film, which made it to the

final of the International Wildlife Film Festival, 2004, in Montana,

USA, showed how nomadic riverine communities hunt the otter with the

help of trained hounds. It also highlights the widespread illegal

trade of tiger and leopard skins and their body parts.

 

" These playful animals are being hunted for their highly prized pelts,

which are smuggled out of India for making fur coats and trimmings, "

says the filmmaker, who won the Golden Tree Award at Vatavaran 2003

(National Wildlife Film Festival) for his film on conservation, A

Brush with Death.

 

This film is about the poaching of the mongoose to make drawing and

paint brushes. " Let art not wipe out the species " is the theme of the

22-minute documentary.

 

" Making wildlife documentaries is not a matter of livelihood but a

passion with me. I treat it more as a social responsibility. "

 

" To be an investigative wildlife filmmaker, one needs to be aware of

many things such as the law and, of course, the threat involved. "

 

" Before making a documentary, one should be mentally prepared to work

round the clock and even go without food for days, " says Fayaz.

 

" What has always shocked me is that we all tend to focus on big

animals and ignore the small animals. Every animal and insect has a

role to play. If we lose even one of the species, there are definitely

going to be repercussions. We may not be able to see them immediately

but we will have to face them in future. "

 

In 1998, he made a documentary on shahtoosh trade in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

His recent production is A Walk on the Wild Side. Funded by the

British High Commission, the documentary is yet to be released. " The

documentary takes you through the natural heritage of our country, "

says Fayaz.

 

He has also received the UK-Centre for Media Studies Environment

Fellowship for his proposed documentary The Hot Planet and the Hole in

the Sky. It will look into the effects of global warming in India.