Haller Triumphs as a winner in the 2023 Big Syn International Film Festival
We are thrilled to announce that the Haller Foundation’s latest film has emerged as a winner from the People & Planet category in the 2023 Big Syn International Film Festival, recognised as the world’s premier sustainability film festival.
Now in its fifth year, the Film Festival stands as the largest United Nations Sustainable Development Goals initiative of its kind, with a mission to motivate millions worldwide to take action on the UN SDGs, fostering positive changes for the environment, society, and economy. Guided by esteemed celebrities and leaders, including OSCAR, BAFTA, and EMMY award winners in sustainability, policy, and media. With over 45,000,000 viewers, voters and visitors, across 120 countries, the festival has attracted entries from over 2,000,000 filmmakers.
The Big Syn Institute is part of the Centre for Big Synergy (CBS), a Civil Society Organisation of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Big Syn stands for ‘Big Synergy’ – the driving force behind the initiatives run by CBS. The principle that through cooperation and collaboration, we can drive a much greater impact than simply acting individually.
The film festival was founded in 2019 by Dr Ragini Roy and Dr Sourav Roy, conceived as another route to educate people about the UN SDGs and inspire them to participate in meeting the United Nations 2030 Agenda. It was their belief that film holds immense power to bring to light the ‘real’ needs of the time and offer ideas for meeting those needs through a synergy of ideas and actions. Film also has a unique potential to help open dialogues around the world, and drive further collaboration to drive change.
At times the news cycle around climate change and sustainability can be disheartening. A never ending stream of updates on how very wrong we’re getting our approach to solving the biggest issues facing the planet right now. Big Syn aims to shed light on the stories of hope. Organisations and individuals who have successfully challenged this narrative, and developed strategies and tools to tackle the climate emergency.
Haller’s film focuses on the journey of Haller in Kenya. Starting with the work of Dr Rene Haller over half a century ago, transforming a former quarry into a thriving ecosystem supporting hundreds of species of plants and animals. This transformation, and the ethos behind it, inspired Louise Piper and Julia Hailes to set up the Haller Foundation in 2004, an organisation dedicated to helping smallholder farmers in Kenya tackle the impacts of climate change through regenerative agricultural practices.
Since our founding, Haller has provided thousands of smallholder farmers with the knowledge, skills and infrastructure to farm sustainably. As James Konde, Haller Kenya’s Agricultural Advisor puts it: “Haller Kenya is there to help communities thrive in their daily lives.”
Challenges remain: the impact of climate change has worsened over the last decade, a tangible reminder of the limited time remaining for action. But Haller is focused on educating the next generation of smallholder farmers on sustainable agriculture, equipping them with tools needed to cope in increasingly challenging environmental conditions.
A heartfelt thank you to all our supporters for the overwhelming love for the film. We hope it serves as an inspiration to audiences at Big Syn and beyond.
