Veteran wildlife filmmaker and conservationist Mike Pandey was today honoured with the prestigious V Shantaram Life Time Achievement Award.

At a sparkling ceremony to inaugurate the 12th Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films, Maharashtra’s Governor, Mr. K Sankaranarayanan presented him a citation, a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.

Having won more than 300 national and international awards including two Green Oscars, Mike Pandey is much acclaimed for his films like ‘Shores Of Silence – Whale Sharks In India’, ‘The Last Migration – Wild Elephant Capture At Sarguja’, ‘Khullam Khulla’, Kalpavriksha – Legacy of Forests’ and ‘Honey Hunter Of The Blue Mountains’.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting C M Jatua said that the festival was an effort to preserve India’s documentary film movement.

During the opening ceremony, audience was also left enchanted by the “Bamboo Symphony”, a unique folk fusion by artists from Kerala. The performance was followed by the screening of inaugural documentary film “The Confession” by Tanel Toom.