SunChild 10th International Environmental Festival

The SunChild 10th IEF will take place from 14th to 18th of November 2021, screening around 30 environmental films from different countries. In response to the global pandemic CoVID-19, the SunChild IEF organizing team decided to go online. In this online platform all the chosen films will be available during the festival days. Each film will be available on the online platform of the festival for 24 hours on one of the festival days Faced with the climate and biodiversity emergencies, The United Nations General Assembly declared 2021 – 2030 to be the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – a catalyst for transformative change that brings together all environmental activities for our common good. A global call to action will draw together political support, scientific research and financial support to massively scale up restoration from successful pilot initiatives to areas of millions of hectares. As such for the 10th anniversary, the festival theme will be ecosystem restoration to shed light on some of the amazing work being done on the field, to raise further awareness on the topic, as well as bring ambition to the next generation to take part in restoring their lands.

There has never been a more urgent need to restore damaged ecosystems than now.

SunChild 10th International Environmental Festival has 4 nominations

  •  International Wildlife Conservation Film Competition
  •  International Environmental Film Competition
  •  International Educational Film Competition
  •  International Wildfire Prevention Film Competition

Awards

The awards of the SunChild 10th International Environmental Festival are created by the students of the Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex within the sculpture workshops.

About SunChild IEF

On a planet that faces complex issues that threaten to tear us apart, we hope to provide a platform to find common group and the connection that is necessary to sustain life․ We strive to provide a platform for people to come together, learn and create solutions. The Festival screens wildlife and environmental films from all over the world and hosts workshops, exhibitions and media campaigns designed to foster a culture of environmental stewardship. During the 15 years of the festival’s existence, more than 700 films from 150 countries around the world have been screened. The SunChild International Environmental Festival is the first and only of its kind in the South Caucasus region. The Festival takes place in autumn, but it also hosts screenings and workshops year round throughout Armenia for youth. This provides a space for youth to understand and engage environmental issues in order to find local solutions. SunChild International Environmental Festival has been organized since 2007 by the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC).

THE TEAM

Ruben Khachatryan – Founder of SunChild IEF

“From day-to-day humanity immerses itself in an environmental crisis which was a result of its inconsistent actions throughout the decades. We take our planet and our future to destruction with our own hands, deepening the disaster that will eventually destroy us. Unless we stop for a moment and say to ourselves: that’s enough. The time has come to create a new future. Having all this in mind, the idea to establish the SunChild International Environmental Festival came in Y2005, which would result in a revolutionary change of thinking and attitude towards nature among the young generation. Out future has to be green! By infusing the idea of merging art and nature to the young generation, we have already given the public a few generations who truly love the planet and support the nature they are surrounded by. I believe, that the SunChild International Environmental Festival will have a long run and will result in a wishful change we all need! Only with a decent environmental education and awareness we make our conservational work successful.”

Sona Kalantaryan – Director of the SunChild IEF

“Our planet is on the brink of a severe environmental crisis. To confront the challenges, the planet and our communities face we need to increase the active participation and partnership with young people. Youth voice will result in a tremendous impact on changes towards environmental issues, thus we choose youth as our main target for the SunChild IEFF to increase awareness on wildlife conservation and environmental issues. Only with educated and competent young generation the future of our environment can be in good hands.

This year together with the USDA Forest Service we will highlight the issue of growing wildfires around the world, and discuss the prevention methods. During the Festival screening days several amazing films about wildfires will be screened, and throughout the year many awareness raising activities, discussions and capacity building actions will be organized.”