Information is key to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Mike Pandey

Making a pitch for the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan', wildlife filmmaker Mike Pandey today said education is key to this cleanliness campaign and felt that documentary helmers can serve as "teachers of future".
"If you are emphasizing on cleaning through Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan then harp on education. What we have to do is provide information. And documentary film is the best means to educate a person," Pandey said on the sidelines of ongoing IFFI.
"Documentary filmmakers are teachers of future. There is a need to understand new teachers. When a documentary filmmaker tries to make a film he meets best scientists, best experts and what you can learn in one year, he teaches you in thirty minutes," the Green Oscar winning documentary filmmaker, who also heads Indian Documentary Producers' Association (IDPA) said.

Responding to whether Modi government has come as good news for documentary makers, Pandey said the current change is a great thing to happen.
"I think personally, the way I see it, it is a great thing. The new government's emphasis is education. And to deliver education, it has to be through television and content... And documentary filmmakers are the one who provide content," he said.
Pandey rubbished statements that documentary filmmaking has become an outdated genre.

He also said that CSR initiatives by various companies are not of much help to documentary makers.
"CSR has certain role to play. It has not helped much. There is no clarity and documentary filmmakers are not covered in the CSR initiative. The CSR initiatives only cover women or children-related issues. We have to look at it from the perspective that 67 per cent of India is still illiterate," said the filmmaker.

Pandey said there is a silver lining for documentary filmmakers now as the Government has began supporting them.
"We have been able to secure five year memorandum of understanding (MoU) to showcase documentary films on Doordarshan. The documentary filmmakers will get substantial amount with it," he said.
The filmmaker said the organisers of IFFI should give documentary films their due.
"Documentary films should be given due recognition and should be awarded in the film festival," he said.