Sushil Rao’s documentary “Let the Mother Bird Go” wins two international awards, selected for Tokyo

HYDERABAD: An environmental documentary “Let the Mother Bird Go” produced and directed by Chilkuri Sushil Rao of Hyderabad has been selected for three international film festivals.

The documentary has been selected for the Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival organised by Lift-Off Global Network, Uk, Ecovision Global Film Festival, Sydney and Indian International Film Festival, Kolkata.

In the IIFF, the documentary was declared winner, in the results which were announced on April 23. In the Ecovision Global Film Festival, Sydney, it has won an honorable mention in the Best Environmental Documentary category, the festival organisers announced on April 24.

The Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival begins on April 26.

“The short documentary emphasises the need to preserve ecology,” explained filmmaker Chilkuri Sushil Rao. The basis of the environmental films is the Bible verse: “If you come across a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a road or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, don’t take the mother with the young. You may take the babies but let the mother bird go so that you will live a good and long time.” This is a passage that appears in Deuteronomy 22:6-7 in the Old Testament of The Holy Bible.

Chilkuri Vasanth Rao says: “Let the mother bird go” is the commandment of God.

The documentary captures the interest of people in the birds at the Oxygen Park of Osmania University in Hyderabad, Telangana and celebrates the migratory birds at the Keoladeo National Park, more popular as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Rajasthan in India which Prof Rev Dr Chilkuri Vasanth Rao visited.

Prof Vasanth Rao heads the United Theological College, in Bengaluru.. Vasanth Rao who holds a Ph D from Germany, spreads the word that it is important to preserve flora and fauna with particular emphasis on birds. He is also an accomplished and well-known author having written books on ecology.

Chilkuri Sushil Rao has won both national and international recognition for some of his short documentaries in the last three years, including the World Film Festival in Cannes and 8th India World Film Festival organised by MiniBoxOffice in Hyderabad.