From September 29th to October 3rd, the Maloka Institute will open its doors for the fifth edition of the Planet On International Film Festival. As the name suggests, the environment and the various issues surrounding it will be the theme of this year’s entries. And as an added bonus, this year will count on a virtual programme available via stream.
Since 2013, the event has been held every other year. In 2020, Planet On was recognised by the District Program of Concerted Support of the Secretariat of Culture, Recreation and Sports.
In its fifth edition, it will feature films, documentaries, musical shows based on the sounds of nature, and chats with producers and directors whose passion is to promote environmental conservation.
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On Saturday, October 2nd at 12:00, Secretary of Culture Nicolás Montero and primatologist Jane Goodall will share a few words to open things up. This will be available to watch on the Secretary of Culture’s Facebook page.
Click here if you want to know the entire festival programme
In an interview with the Bogotá Portal, the director and founder of the Festival, Norma Cuadros had much to say about this year’s proceedings. “This year the Festival has one objective and that is that to shed a light on environmental issues and their correlation to what is happening socially and politically. It is important that attendees see that the environmental agenda is urgent and requires immediate action not only from governments, but also from citizens,"
The festival, apart from its long and short film format, will include additional categories to help frame the tone of each event. "Last Planet," "Future Planet" and "Small Planet." Regarding the curation of the material shown this year, Director Cuadros highlighted, “The films undoubtedly have a link with the current situation in the country and the region; the role of women is predominant and we have, from the curatorial team, a commitment to the gender approach. In the midst of a predominantly male industry, it is important to recognise and promote content made for and by women. To tell stories of women leaders in their communities and how they manage to take a different look at the problems that we see every day in our country."
Among the most outstanding entries that will be presented at the festival this year are:
I Am Greta
🎬 🌿 Documentarian Nathan Grossman tells the story of a shy college student with Asperger's who, in her rise to fame and growing global impact, inspires the world around her. Check out the trailer here 👇🏼
Gozques
🎬 🐕 Told through the eyes of a trio of stray dogs: Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal who scrape to survive in the unforgiving streets of Istabul. This documentary is a critical observation of human civilisation through the eyes of dogs. Watch the trailer here👇🏼
Jane Goodall: The Legacy
🎬 🐒🦧🍌 The latest National Geographics documentary on the world's most famous primatologist, Jane Goodall. It chronicles Jane's footsteps across three decades of activist work. At a time when the environmental crisis is reaching a tipping point, Jane Goodall has made it her mission to instill in others the idea that solutions to this crisis are within our grasp. Watch the trailer here👇🏼
This festival is carried out thanks to the contribution and support of players such as the District Secretary for the Environment, Diaku, Natibo Foundation, the Embassy of Spain in Colombia, Discovery and Colombia Crea Talento.
The festival also has an added academic focus that seeks to stimulate the production of more content that tells stories about the environment. Director Cuadros went on to explain, “The guests will be talking about their films and trajectory, they will go more in depth and tell us how it was done and what their motivation was for making each title. We will also be joined by experts from Ireland and the United States to talk about Green Production in Film and TV. These meetings are a success story, it will be invaluable to have experts come and lend their insight on how we can reduce pollution as an industry and also include content with messages in favour of the environment and conservation."
