ENVIROFILM
The international environmental film festival ENVIROFILM originated in 1995.
In May 2000, the director of the Royal Award Foundation from Denmark gave personally at the festival in Banská Bystrica
the award for raising of public environmental awareness through films and other media to its organisers.
On 11th May 2002, within the 8th ENVIROFILM in Banská Bystrica,
the international non-profit organisation Ecomove International
was established by representatives of the festivals: ENVIROFILM Slovakia, EKOFILM Czech Republic, ÖKOMEDIA Germany, EARTH VISION Japan, AMBIENTE Portugal and GREEN VISION Russia, with the objective to support the international cooperation in the field of audio-visual production focused on environmental protection.
ENVIROFILM, as a member of ECOMOVE International, presented itself in the environmental festival within the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September 2002
and at the environmental film festival Sense of Wonder World in Japan within EXPO 2005 world exhibition. The ECOMOVE association organised two international festivals of environmental festivals ECOMOVE in Berlin.
In January 2005, ENVIROFILM won the Mayor´s of Banska Bystrica Award for2004.
In May 2006, some more foreign environmental festivals – International Documentary Film Festival on Parks, Italy and Włodzimierz Puchalski Nature Film Festival, Poland - joined ECOMOVE International.
ENVIROFILM has been cooperating with the Slovak Film Institute and the Slovak Film Union that have been organising each year screening of films from the “Golden Fund” of the Slovak cinematography, as well as with the non-profit Union of Slovak Television Programme Makers. Professional workshops for TV and film makers are organised every year during the festival. ENVIROFILM cooperates also with colleges and universities – Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Technical University in Zvolen, University of Central Europe in Skalica.
Within the festival, the International Contest of Children’s and Youth’s Artistic Creativity Green World(painting, drawing, photography, animated film) is being organised. Children are involved in evaluation of competing film, and in various competitions, games and ecological activities have been organised for them. The winner of the Green World contest is being awarded the Prize of CH. B. Parker´s Foundation (USA).
The prize comprises a stay in the Water World camp.
The Union of Slovak Television Programme Makers and the Literature Fund award at the festival the Prize for a Young Filmmaker in the Field of Slovak Audiovisual Production with Environmental Theme.
Every year, significant Slovak and foreign film makers and documentarians participate in ENVIROFILM. The public shows a big interest in meetings and discussions with these authors.
ENVIROFILM has been organising screening of its competition films within accompanying events of other festivals: Czech Republic (Český Krumlov), Poland (Lódž, Warsaw), Japan (Tokyo) and Germany (Berlín, Freiburg).
Festival organisers established in October 2011 the non-profit organisation Envirofilm, n.o. Its main objective is to preserve this reputable international event, which supports environmental awareness raising of the Slovak public, in next years and to obtain financial support from various sources: from sponsors, governmental and private funds, European funds and own sources.
