Two films showcasing Northeast India win Global Sustainability Film Awards 2022 in London

Two films about Northeast India earned accolades at the Global Sustainability Film Awards 2022, one concerning rhino protection in Assam and the other about water shortage in one of the world's wettest regions, Cherrapunji.

The tve GSFA, now in its 11th year, honours films that inspire viewers with real-world solutions for a more sustainable future from the business, non-profit, media, and creative sectors.

While the Assam film "Bad Blood" by VICE Media won the Greener Living Short Film Award, tve special Trustee Choice Award went to "Water for Life" by Green Hub.

In the film "Bad Blood", the jury said: "The theme of a poacher turned gamekeeper is an evergreen theme. But this fascinating Vice News video, depicting the personal guilt of a repentant rhino killer, was unique: not least because such documentaries are usually made in Africa, but this one was made on the Indian border in Assam."

The other winning films are Transforming Society category: "Road to Fulfilment" (UAE); Documentary Impact: "Eating Our Way to Extinction" (UK); Young Filmmaker: "Changing Paradigms" (Henry Smith, Australia); Digital Technology and AI for Sustainable Living: "Age of Change: Circulor" (UK). The award ceremony was held here at the Merchant Taylors' Hall Tuesday night.

According to Nick Nuttall, chair of the jury, "The films we judged and awarded were undoubtedly inspiring but also told fascinating stories that reflect both the threats and importantly the solutions, to climate change and the loss of animal and plant life up to how to build sustainable livelihoods."

According to Nick, who is also a director and presenter of the digital broadcaster "We Don't Have Time," the videos not only highlighted originality and quality, but also the reality that the answers to these numerous catastrophes are developing everywhere if we chose to deploy them at scale.

"We received 72 very high-quality films from around the world for the tve GSFA 2022 and it was not an easy task for the Jury to first arrive at the 17 shortlisted films and eventually the 5 final category winners”, said Mei Sim Lai, chair tve.

The Founder's Award was given to two films this year. It chose Phyllis Nagy's "Call Jane" for its effective representation of a significant moment in American history the full-length feature film.

The film depicts the problematic narrative of an American lady in the 1960s who has a life-threatening pregnancy that cannot be terminated legally, and how she contacts an underground network of women who take risks to administer abortions.

For the documentary film, the Founder's Award was given to director Alex Pritz's "The Territory" which vividly brings alive the struggles of a young indigenous leader and his mentor who fight back in defense of their land and an uncontacted group living deep within the Amazon rainforest.

During the tve GSFA ceremony, the founder of the awards and president of tve Surina Narula said, "I am delighted that we have two winning films from India this year.

The quality of the films participating in these awards is a matter of great satisfaction as this indicates the success we have had in getting more organizations and individuals to actively engage in the conversation on global sustainability over the last eleven years."

tve is a UK-registered charity founded by the United Nations Environment Programme, WWF-UK, and Central Television (now part of ITV) in 1984. Its mission is to use the power of storytelling to drive real-world change for a more sustainable future.