Mike Pandey Wildlife film-maker Indian wildlife film-makers are resilient and competent, and at par with some of the best in the world. This is because, even with the limited budgets and equipment, they have been able to nudge the giants and make a mark globally. Internationally, Mike Salisbury has been an outstanding example along with Doug Allen for his underwater work and pictures of the snow leopard. In India last year Naresh and Rajesh Bedi have made a mark with their Red Panda film. This year Doordarshan's series Earth Matters was awarded the Golden Giraffe for outstanding conservation in France by the head of National Geographic Natural History Unit, Keenan Smart. This is the first conservation award, and it came to India. An obstacle-ridden path Funding, corruption, red tape...It's like running a steeplechase race...full of obstacles, when you want to make a film on conservation and wildlife. It used to be much better and cleaner earlier. Suddenly it's murkier. I recently gave up on a film on tigers just because of this. Corruption comes in all shapes and sizes now, from the lowest rung of the ladder to the elitist. For example, the government wants to save the tiger. It is spending crores on full page and half page advertisements in the national newspaper's regular seminars for 30 years, but the tiger is still dying. The strategies have not worked. One tiger is still dying on an average. Those that kill tigers or aid the murder of the big cats do not live in cities. We need to target the rural population...sensitising them is more important and crucial to the tiger's existence than spending crores of rupees every year on the colourful self promotion ads in cities, eulogising the government's incredible feats. Is there political will? Are we serious about saving the tiger or the environment? How many effective films has the government made so far on the tiger? What efforts has the government actually made to sensitise the communities living around the parks? Film-makers like us want to make films that inform and sensitise and touch people's hearts, and try to make a difference. My film Shores of Silence and the Vanishing Giants and Vanishing Vultures are classic examples of mass communication working and bringing landmark changes, legislation and protection. The films have not sold, but have made a historical difference and helped save a species from extinction. These films are being used all over the world as an example of the power of the moving pictures and the changes they can bring about. It does make a difference The example is right before our eyes