Quotes from the Earth

In 2004, Toxics Link, and the India International Centre, with the support of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, launched "Quotes from the Earth,” the first of its kind environmental film festival in the Indian Capital. The film festival uses a discursive platform to highlight environmental challenges at the national and international levels through films, which are one of the most prominent mediums of communication.

The festival brings together the persistent and persuasive films on various key environmental issues, ranging from vanishing biodiversity to rampant mining, lives of indigenous communities to global climate crisis, lakes and river contamination to forest conservation, and household waste to solutions for combatting global energy challenges.

Since its inception, it has attracted films and filmmakers from across the globe. During the film festival, panel discussions are also conducted to provide the audience with a wider context of the meaning of films and their significance in bringing about societal change.

Format of the Festival:
The festival runs as a 2-day event that goes beyond viewing films. It showcases around 25-30 films, followed by a Q&A session with the directors after the screening of each film. The films screened are an amalgamation of documentaries, animation films, and feature films developed by renowned and budding filmmakers across the world. A panel discussion with eminent journalists, environmentalists, academicians, filmmakers, policymakers, and personalities from civil society organisations is also conducted on relevant topics during the film festival.

Film Categories:
Films are amongst the most crucial mediums of visual communication through which an issue reaches the hearts of people. They help in broadening the perspective of the audiences on various subjects. “Quotes from the Earth” connect the dots in bringing a range of pressing environmental problems through a visually appealing medium. Over 1,000 films from India and abroad on various environmental issues, including biodiversity, water, wildlife, livelihoods, mining, forest, environmental justice, climate change, and sustainability, have been received till now.

Previous Festival Editions:
"Quotes from the Earth" is an attempt to highlight various environmental challenges globally through the thought-provoking medium of films. A variety of films and thematic panel discussions with eminent academicians, dynamic activists, and dedicated filmmakers help to broaden the understanding of environmental issues among all the stakeholders.

Launched in 2004, the festival underlines critical environmental issues such as Biodiversity, Livelihood, Water, Climate Change, and Sustainability.

About Toxics Link:
Toxics Link is an environmental research and advocacy organisation set up in 1996 by The Just Environment Charitable Trust. It emphasizes reaching out to numerous grassroots groups, community-based organisations, and the public through its empirical study-based information on environmental issues.

Toxics Link works closely with all other stakeholders working on similar issues and has played a seminal role in facilitating the development of several common platforms on the national, regional, and international levels. Toxics Link works in the realms of Community and Waste, Toxics-free Health Care, Clean Industry, Chemicals & Health, and knowledge dissemination.