Media advisory

ITALY, Rome/ 19 November 2003: The plight of the Garos people of Meghalaya in north-east India and related threats to indigenous knowledge important to the preservation of the world’s rice varieties are explored in a new documentary film produced by acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair.

Directed by Nair’s long-time collaborator, filmmaker Dinaz Stafford, Still, the children are here has its world premier at the Romaeuropa Festival. Meet Nair, Stafford and others involved in the creation of this unique documentary at a special press conference Wednesday, 19 November at 13:00 hours in the Palladium Theatre, Garbatella.

Featured speakers will include:

• Mira Nair, producer
• Dinaz Stafford, director
• Phrang Roy, Assistant President, IFAD
• Monique Veaute, artistic director, Romaeuropa

The documentary marks the 25th anniversary of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a Rome-based agency of the United Nations dedicated to enabling rural poor people to overcome poverty. The film also coincides with the end of the UN's International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1994-2004) and the launch of next year’s International Year of Rice.

Still, the children are here was financed with support from the Governments of Japan and Finland.

• Synopsis: A vanishing legacy
• Message from IFAD: Unleashing the human spirit
• Media brief: Indigenous Peoples
• Director's notes: Inside the Garos' world
• Biographies: Mira Nair and Dinaz Stafford