Golden Beaver goes to Home-Our Garden of Eden

BHUBANESWAR: Drama, romance, intrigue, endeavour, tragedy, music, colour, endearing characters, heroes, heroines and villains … in short, all the ingredients that make a blockbuster. However, this  is no ordinary film and its cast is nothing short of extraordinary. A magical universe unfolds when award-winning naturalist-filmmaker Suresh Elamon turns his camera to shoot the teeming life in his own garden at his home in Thiruvananthapuram. The film, titled ‘Home - Our Garden of Eden’, is a 30-minute peep into the multitude of living creatures that populate our gardens.No wonder, Elamon won the Golden Beaver Award (popular science film category) at the Rashtriya Vigyan Chalchitra Mela and Competition held here on Sunday. The science film festival and competition was organised on the sidelines of the 99th Indian Science Congress (ISC). The award comprised a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000, a trophy and a certificate. Similarly, the Silver Beaver Award in the category went to the ‘Darwin Puzzle’, produced by Vigyan Prasar. This year, for the second time, the ISC officials have decided to host the science film festival along with the Congress. Fifty-nine films from the country and abroad were screened during the  festival, which was hosted by Vigyan Prasar, a National Institute for Science and Technology  Communication under the Department of Science and  Technology, Government of India. Besides, the Special Jury Award with a cash prize of Rs 40,000 was given to ‘Dream Fulfilled’, a 30-minute documentary which highlights the technical difficulties faced by the engineers during the construction of Delhi Metro’s Phase-II. The documentary showcases the various challenges that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation team faced like the construction of a 100-metre bridge over railway tracks at Okhla, the signature bridge over the Ring Road at Moolchand, the viaduct over Dhaula Kuan, the Zamrudpur mishap and its eventual timely completion and the construction of a steel made station at Chattarpur. Chairman of National Children’s Science Congress R N Ray said the competition was to felicitate, recognise and encourage science film producers and production of S&T-related films and videos.