Shehzad Hameed Ahmad Secures Seventh Award at 2021 New York Festivals for Amazon Rainforest Documentary

Pakistani documentary filmmaker Shehzad Hameed Ahmad has continued his streak of recognition by winning his seventh award at the 2021 New York Festivals. He received the Bronze Global Award in the Environment and Ecology category for his compelling documentary, "Brazil’s Amazonian Battle." To create this film, Shehzad embarked on a perilous expedition into Brazil's Amazon Rainforest to document the struggles of the Mundurukku Tribe, whose ancestral lands are under threat from illegal gold miners. Since President Jair Bolsonaro assumed office, deforestation has surged by 30%, leading to the destruction of over 120,000 square kilometers of rainforest—an area comparable to the size of Wales—and displacing hundreds of indigenous communities. The rainforest, vital for producing 20% of the world's oxygen and acting as a significant carbon sink, faces relentless encroachment due to illegal mining activities. Shehzad's investigative work aims to shed light on the environmental and social impacts of this gold rush. His distinguished career includes previous accolades such as a Gold World Medal for "Flight of the Falcons" (2016), Silver Medals for "Kasur’s Lost Children" (2017) and "Rise and...