Here’s a selection of 2 short green movies that are sure to leave you spellbound. The first one is a 2 minute video courtesy BBC ONE. It is a movie set to the tune of ‘What a wonderful world’ featuring the voice of David Attenborough.
Wonderful World
Nature by numbers
The second film is inspired by numbers, geometry and nature, and has been made by Cristóbal Vila.
We hope you’ve enjoyed these green movies. Every month we will keep adding new green movies to our list.
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If you know of any other movies that we should add, do send us the link in the comments box below.
A collection of seven stories from places some would call strange. But in our world, they are called enchanted. Enjoy this collection of strange stories from strange places and watch out for the next round of stories.
7. Strange place: Chocolate Hills, Bohol, Philippines. Fact: Spread across 50 sq. km (20 sq. miles.) there are more than 1200 similar shaped mounds covered in green grass. The hills turn brown during the dry season. Fable: There was once a giant water buffalo, as tall as a small mountain. The buffalo used to eat up all the crops in the fields of the neighbouring villages. So the villagers decided to trick it by offering it huge piles of spoilt food. The buffalo gulped the food but soon fell sick. It ran all over the place, leaving behind it’s enormous droppings. The feces dried and came to be known as the chocolate hills! Moral: Be careful when accepting a gift or favor from an enemy.
Pic by: Kitseps
6. Strange Place: Tsingy, Madagascar Fact: Near the western coast of Madagascar, exists a strange forest of limestone rocks shaped like giant needles. It is home to many creatures found nowhere else in the world. Fable: The Silky Sifaka was granted a special gift by the Moon god, which turned it’s silky coat moonlight white in color. The Sifakas were very proud of their good looks, but soon found out that their shiny white coat made them more visible to the cunning Fossa (A cat like hunter). Soon their numbers began to diminish alarmingly. The remaining silky sifakas took shelter in a rocky forest and asked the Moon God for help. To protect his beloved lemurs the Moon god turned the rocks into a forest of huge needles. The jagged rocks were so sharp that they could cut one in half, if one was not careful. It was a hard place to live in, but at the same time it became very difficult for the hunters to catch the silky sifakas and kept them safe. Moral: Every positive has it’s own negative, just as every negative has it’s own positive.
Pic by: Stephen Alvarez
5. Strange place: Bear Rock (Devils Tower Monument), USA Fact: A huge tower of rock that rises suddenly from the ground and has strange markings on it’s sides. Fable: Long ago a group of seven girls went out to play in the forest. They were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. The girls barely escaped by climbing a small rock. But the bears began to dig their claws into the rock and climb it. The girls prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heaven. The bears, began to slip down the slopes and left deep claw marks in the sides of the mountain. When the girls reached the sky, they were turned into the star constellation called the Pleiades (seven sisters). Moral: If you plan to mess with wild bears, you better have someone to answer your prayers.
Pic by: Colin Faulkingham
4. Strange place: Socotra Island, Yemen Fact: This island is teeming with more than 700 extremely rare species of plants and animals, a full 1/3 of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Fable: On a tiny isalnd in the Arabian sea, the Creator had built up a new world with fascinating forms of life. Of all His creations, the most magnificient was the Dragon. A strange but powerful beast that was the king of all animals. After many year when the Creator came to visit the Island, he found none of the other mammals. For the Dragon had eaten them all up. The Creator was furious and turned the dragon into a tree. The strange tree is known as the Dragon tree. If you cut it’s bark, you’ll see the Dragon’s blood. Moral: Don’t leave a cat to guard your milk.
3. Strange place: Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), Australia Fact: Uluru is a vast single red stone, larger than an island, that lies at Australia’s heart. Fable: The tribes were dying. The desert was a hard place to live in. The hard Sun had driven away all the clouds and dried up all the water from the lands. The tribes prayed to the Goddess of Rain, until she took pity. She told them that she would create a great lake that would be invisible to sun. And as the tribes watch a huge rock grew up in the middle of the desert. The tribes were confused. But soon realised that the Uluru’s runoff from the rain, lies deep-set in the sand at it’s base or is held in the roots of desert scrub that grow around it. In a way, the Uluru was an inverted lake. Moral: Nature has many secrets to tell, but only a few people willing to listen.
Pic by: Digital Reflections
2. Strange Place: Cave of Crystals, Naica, Mexico Fact: Mexico’s Cave of Crystals, contains some of the world’s largest known natural crystals—translucent beams of gypsum as long as 36 feet (11 meters).
Fable: A poor farmer once saved a young girl from drowning . Now the little girl was no ordinary girl, but the daughter of a silver star. Pleased with the farmer, the Star gifted him with an immense treaure of precious crystals. The famer was overjoyed at his luck. But soon his joy turned to fear. He had never seen such wealth. He was afraid, it would get stolen or taken away from him. He asked the Satr to hide his treasure in a deep cave far from everyone’s view. Years passed, the farmer grew old, and his memory grew weak. On his dying day, he called his family to tell them something important, but could not remember what he wanted to say. Moral: Unused wealth is worthless
1. Strange place: Blue Hole, Belize Fact: The world’s largest blue hole is a verticle cave in the sea and is one of the most amazing dive sites to explore in the world. Fable: Long back in time, when Earth was covered in ice, there was a group of sabretooth tigers who lived in a big vertical cave. The cave protected them from other enemies and had been their home for generations. One year a bunch of animals running past their cave warned them of approaching seas. But the sabretooth tiger family did not believe in rumors. They were confident of their strength and the security of their cave. The temperature was rising and more and more animals were seen rushing past the cave. The sabretooth laughed at the scared animals and ignored them. Until one day, a huge wave from the ocean came in and filled up the entire cave within a few seconds. There was no escape for the sabretooth tigers. Moral: Don’t live in a hole. Stay informed about what’s happening in the world.
All fables written, or collected and retold by Nitin Das.
In this short green movie, Yann Arthus-Bertrand captures some interesting facts about the forest. He was appointed by the United Nations to produce the official film for the International Year of Forests. Be amazed by the beauty of these enchanted forests through stunning visuals accompanied with narration by Edward Norton.
Interesting facts about forests:
1. Forests cover almost one third of total land area on planet Earth.
2. Forests are the ‘lungs of the earth’. They supply us with fresh oxygen and remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
3. More than 75% of the world’s usable freshwater comes from forested areas.
4. Rather shockingly, 36 million . . . → Read More: Interesting facts Of Forests and Men
In the Stories about nature series we are presenting a collection of wonderful stories from around the world that revolve around nature. These stories show the importance and respect given to nature since time immemorial.
Pic by: Flickr/Primeroz
Fable: In ancient China lived an artist whose paintings were almost life-like. The artist’s fame had made him proud and conceited. One day the emperor wanted to get his portrait done so he called all great artists to come and present their finest work, so that he could choose the best. The artist was sure he would be . . . → Read More: Stories About Nature
Leh was once the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh. Situated high up in the Himalayas in northern India, it lies in an ice desert region. Amidst the cold barren landscape, the town of Leh is an enchanted oasis. Watch this wonderful film from Leh and share the wisdom of this ancient land.
People belonging to different religions, particularly Buddhism and Islam, have been living in harmony in Leh for centuries. They have coexisted since the 8th century and there has been no mention of any conflict between them. Leh also has people belonging to other religions such as Christianity, . . . → Read More: Leh Ladakh India – Ice desert of the Himalayas
On his dying day, a hermit who had travelled the mountains all his life, spoke of a hidden valley that had trees of gold. But he also warned of an ice monster that guarded the valley. Before he could complete the map to locate the valley, he passed away. The news of this strange story spread like wild-fire and many an adventurer set out to find the promising treasure. They . . . → Read More: Forest of Gold, Fable
Read the fable first, then watch the film:
In the Andes mountains of Ecuador lived two friends, the Cloud and the Forest. They would play with each other, not for hours or days but for weeks that turned into months. One day they had a difference of opinion, which turned into a heated argument that soon became an ego issue. The Clouds decided to move on and Forest decided to focus on growing into newer territories.
Forest Fable
But the animals and birds of the forest very unhappy about this sudden turn of events for their lives depended on . . . → Read More: Cloud Forest Fable
Have you ever wondered what is the significance of our dreams? All human beings dream. Irrespective of race, religion or country. And yet, each dream is different.
Deep in the South American Amazon, live a few tribes that have mastered the art of interpreting dreams. These indigenous tribes are known as dream cultures. The Achuar is one such tribe. They live in the Amazon forest along either side of the border between Ecuador and Peru. Until a few decades ago they had no contact with the world outside their forest. So a lot of their culture, wisdom and understanding of nature is . . . → Read More: Achuar, Dream Readers of Amazon
Sundarbans
The Sundarban forests (literally meaning ‘beautiful jungle’), cover parts of India and Bangladesh. They are situated in the area where the mighty rivers Ganges and the Brahmaputra flow into the Bay of Bengal Sea, forming the world’s largest delta. These amazing forests are home of the Royal Bengal tiger.
Bengal Tiger – pic by guppiecat
Fable: In the Sundarbans, a little-known goddess Bon-bibi graces its forests. The story goes that Bonbibi, the ‘lady of the jungle’, was chosen by God to protect people who worked in the Sundarbans against a greedy man-eating half sage half tiger-demon named Dokkhin Rai.
This film has been made with the monks of Dhangkar Monastery in Spiti, India. No mosquitoes were killed in the making of this film. Film by: Nitin Das, Music: Avinash Baghel, Special thanks: Sunil Chauhan.
Director’s note: The world is warming and the climate is changing, whether we like it or not. And it’s going to impact each one of us in some way or the other. The next time a heat wave hits you or a mosquito bites, think about it.
But change is inevitable and humans have the gift of shaping their own future to a certain extent. The question is, . . . → Read More: Monks vs. Mosquitoes
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