Three films related to forest conservation and the problems caused by pulpwood plantations received an award at the 17th International Environmental Film Festival that took place from 18 to 22 October 2000 at the Friedrichsbau-Lichtspiele in Freiburg, Germany.
Ökomedia Award "Golden Lynx" for the Best Journalistic Achievement was given to the film "The dirty business with white paper", by the German Inge Altemeier and Reinhard Hornung, which deals with cellulose production in Indonesia. The diseases suffered by the indigenous population, the misappropriation of land and the destruction of the rainforests are documented. The film also traces responsibility back as far as the headquarters of major German companies and the very heart of government.
"Ancient yet modern: cork, a natural product" won the Ökomedia Award "Golden Lynx" for the Best Nature Film. Its author, the Swiss Vadim Jendreyko, presents the example of the cork oak to show the use of a renewable raw material in our everyday life. The film emphasises the need to maintain the valuable cork-oak woods in southern Europe.
The conflict prompted by the arrival of a Malaysian logging company to a village community on the Solomon Island is portrayed in "Since the company", by the Australian Russell Hawkins, who won the Promotional Prize of the City of Freiburg. The author brings key conflicts out into the light --conflicts between those who want to go on leading a traditional lifestyle and those prone to sell their precious forests for money.
Article based on information from: Ökomedia Institut 2000, 25/10/2000; (Those interested in obtaining copies of these films can contact: Ökomedia Institut, Nussmannstrasse.
