Ex-journalist from Texas unveils Eco Film Fest

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: She is the mother of five children, has eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Surely, Catherine R Lee would know what works with youngsters. A retired journalist from Austin in Texas, Cathy, (as she is fondly called by friends and family) believes that films are a sure way of getting the youth to seriously think about social concerns. And finding solutions."Will this benefit the seventh generation? Is this going to help them or harm them? -  these are two questions that native Americans used to ponder about before taking any major decision. Now look at Japan, with all those nuclear stations in seismic zones and now they are talking about Solar energy. These are all human mistakes, nothing to do with any nation. But these are also mistakes that one can avoid if you show a little care, concern and sensitivity,’’ said Cathy.A Monday film festival is what Cathy has launched in the city along with Thanal and the Youth Forum for Culture, Food and Fun to trigger the care and concern about society and environment. Every Monday the fest would screen two films, which will have parallels with current issues.This Monday it was the Kevin Costner-starrer and seven Academy Awards winner ‘Dances With Wolves’ and the epic space opera, the ‘Star Wars’ trilogy."The first film is about genocide of native American Indians in the 19th century and my idea was to stimulate a conversation after the film screening as to how we can avoid them, how do we solve the problems of tribals, how can we get the best deal for them, how do we fight for the cultural freedom and so on,’’ said Cathy to Express a few hours before the screening.Cathy expects the people who take part in the discussions to communicate with the society in their own spheres about these concerns, be it regarding the environment, tribals, gender justice or social equality. "We should think what kind of a life humans will have, the seventh generation, if we continue to pollute our waters, saturate the soil with chemicals and even add them to food,’’ said Cathy.The current film festival, for three Mondays in a row, will be a pilot project and based on the response to this programme, Cathy plans to do much more for the city, where she lives for nearly ten months of the year. Along with the screenings and discussions, there will also be interesting contests and competitions too, the prizes for which are sponsored by Ambrosia, FabIndia, Dreams, Shanker’s Tea and Spices, Udaya Spices and Food and Gulfmart."But I want the men and women to attend it, not like the meeting there,’’ Cathy said pointing to a forest protector’s meeting. There was just one woman there.Screening of filmsJune 6 2.30 pm - ‘Why We Fight’5.30 pm - ‘The Empire Strikes Background’June 132.30 pm - ‘Burzynski’5.30 pm - ‘Return of the Jedi’