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Victoria Clarke – an Australia-based Presenter/Host/Narrator
Victoria is a freelance television presenter, broadcaster, science communicator and narrator for documentaries and television series specialising in wildlife, science, natural history and adventure/travel.
She studied a Bachelor of Science in Zoology at the University of Queensland, which she paired with formal training in television presenting and communications, and has since combined the two fields as a host for wildlife and natural history media.
Her work as a wildlife presenter has taken her to many interesting and remote places in the natural world, and she is an avid traveller and adventurer.
Victoria believes in the power of storytelling, and it's her objective to share information about our planet, and the scientific discoveries made here, to the wider community through compelling, entertaining and accurate stories.
Victoria knows that through the art of nature filmmaking, the importance of conservation and exposure to the beauty of the natural world can be truly understood and appreciated.
Massimiliano (Max) Finzi – a Marine Supervisor – Assistant Underwater Camera – Water Safety Diver
Max is a professional Marine Supervisor and Safety diver in Media, Film and HATV at Netflix, Prime, Lionsgate, Disney, BBC amongst others.
Based in both the UK (Devon) and Italy.
He says" "I have great experience in water diving safety. I am a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, an SSI Divemaster Instructor and the HSE Scuba L.4 and I’m also Instructor of many diving specialties; I’m an underwater camera assistant and also operate independently. I also have experience of training cast and crew in scuba diving to facilitate underwater sequences.
I have done over 10,000 dives in extremely different places and locations such as sea, ocean, river, altitude, lake, caves, under ice, deep and wrecks using all different equipments; I have worked as a dive instructor and dive manager for 21 years and in the last 5 as part of a team in the Marine department in film and TV.
Before becoming a diver in 1996 I was a studio still-life photographer a profession that I brought with me underwater;
I have the Gates STO (Setup/Test/Operate) certification made by Esprit Film; RYA PowerBoat L2, VHF Radio Operator, Day skipper.
I also have the IRATA Rope Access certification L1 and A1/A3 Drone open category.
¨The Bough Breaks¨, from Mousehole Films, of which we are a proud sponsor alongside the Scottish Wild Beaver Group, is continuing its´ festival successes.
It has been made an official selection at the Montrose LandxSea Film Fest, a little closer to home for the film-makers, than some of the festivals we have been selected for (from the Arctic to South America!). It is Scotland's premier environmental film festival and leading event for films and discussions that spark green ideas and actions.
The film-makers, including member Danny Strong Ecologist & Filmmaker, say they ¨are honoured to have been selected as part of this year's exciting festival line up and one of only ten feature documentaries to be selected from films released in 23/24 - including ¨Billy & Molly - An Otter Love Story¨ (Silverback) and ¨Eagle with the Sunlit Eye¨ (Scout Studio).
Here is the link to the feature in the programme: landxsea.org/theboughbreaks2024 ¨The Bough Breaks¨ will be screened on Saturday 14th September 2024 at 2.50pm.
CALL FOR ENTRY – A NEW WILDLIFE FILM FESTIVAL IN ANKARA TURKIYE
By Ece Soydam
30th July 2024
July 1st, 2024 was a very exciting day for me! It was the date when submissions started for the Ankara International Wildlife Documentary Film Festival, the first of its kind in the country.
I am Ece Soydam, a long-time wildlife filmmaker and the very recent founder of this new festival in Türkiye. Having participated in many international wildlife film festivals since the past 20 years, I have always been thrilled to watch great documentaries, meet with and learn from colleagues from around the world and exchange information. Every time I came back from a festival to Ankara, I always talked about it for days and wished the team, my colleagues, the emerging wildlife filmmakers in Türkiye, my friends and my family could experience that atmosphere I so much enjoyed. As I can’t take everyone with me to these festivals, it just dawned upon me one day - “Why not bring the festival to them”? And “Why not introduce wildlife filmmakers to Turkish wildlife?”
The first wildlife documentary film festival of Türkiye will be held in the capital Ankara. Please mark the dates May 15 – 18, 2025!
Submissions are open until December 16th, 2024.
You will find more information on our website very soon. Details about the festival, the city of Ankara and the wildlife of the region and the country will be available at www.aywff.com.tr. We invite you all to submit your documentaries through filmfreeway.com and wait for more announcements about the festival.
We are looking forward to receiving your submissions! Hope to welcome you all and meet many new colleagues in Ankara!
ANKARA INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
The capital Ankara will host a brand-new festival in 2025. For the first time in Türkiye, a documentary film festival about wildlife will be organized. Submissions for the competition section of the 1st Ankara International Wildlife Documentary Film Festival, which is planned to take place between May 15 - 18, 2025, opened on July 1st, 2024. Thanks to the interest of many filmmakers, 130 submissions from 36 countries have been received just in the first month.
The festival is organized to draw national and international attention to Anatolia's wildlife, contribute to nature conservation efforts and support the developmen t of wildlife documentary filmmaking. It is aimed to bring together wildlife documentaries and teams from many countries of the world with both the audience and professional or amateur wildlife documentarians, to follow the innovations in the world, to be a pioneer in some areas and to be instrumental in collaborations and co-productions.
The festival, which will include four days of documentary film screenings, Q&As with film crews, workshops and seminars, will also have a competition section where wildlife documentaries from all over the world will be evaluated in short and feature categories.
Founded by director and producer Ece Soydam, who has been producing wildlife documentaries at TRT for nearly twenty years, the festival is organized in partnership with Çigdem Education, Environment and Solidarity Association and Nature Conservation Center, with the support of United Nations GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP), European Union Sivil Düs¸ün Programme and Ayten & Aycan. The search for resources continues in order to make the organization, to which various embassies will also contribute, more comprehensive.
Submissions for the festival competition will be open until December 16th, 2024 through filmfreeway.com. Inviting all wildlife documentary filmmakers from Türkiye and across the globe to apply to the festival, the festival team continues to work to present a full program for the 1st Ankara International Wildlife Documentary Film Festival on May 15 – 18th, 2025.
The 2024 festival will feature the best films from all over the world. We will be screening all of our official selections in the heart of Rotterdam at Cinerama Movie Theater.
The WFFR Industry Days ’24 will take place on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 November2024. Here you can meet/catch-up with other film professionals and participate in workshops, pitch sessions and social events.
Filmmakers can pitch their (planned) project on Friday, November 8th in front of commissioners, producers, broadcasters and distributors from the wildlife film industry. Registration for the Pitch sessions is required.
Accra, Ghana, is set to host the inaugural edition of the Green Film Festival (GFF) on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12, 2024. The event will feature a two-day event in multiple locations across the capital city.
The Green Film Festival aims to combine powerful storytelling with urgent environmental themes, fostering meaningful connections between participants and the natural world.
The initiative is designed to promote sustainability and environmental awareness, among individuals and institutions, through short films focusing on the effects of climate change and the significance of environmental conservation.
As part of the event, GFF will host workshops and showcase films exploring five significant themes crucial to the earth's future: Biodiversity, Activism, Food, Climate Displacement, and Wildlife Conservation.
The event is supported by key figures in the media and climate ecosystems, notably, Nathan Kwabena Anokye Addisi (aka Bola Ray), CEO of EIB Network, and Prof. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, Vice-Chair of the IPCC's Working Group, among others.
The Green Film Festival is open to filmmakers, environmental enthusiasts, and the general public, offering a unique platform for storytellers, sustainability advocates, and individuals curious about ecological issues to engage with like-minded individuals and become part of a global movement towards a sustainable future.
Documentary fest celebrates global voices in nature filmmaking
The International Outdoor Documentary Film Festival of China Award Competition concluded on Sunday in Shanghai.
Other winners included Daida Back to the Ocean for Best Documentary Short Award, Embracing the Grim for Best Adventure Spirit Documentary Award, Seven Days of Autumn for Best Outdoor Culture and Lifestyle Documentary Award, Fifth Tide for Best Visual Effects Award, and Fauna for Special Prize and Media Special Mention.
Biodiversity on Earth — Zhuonai Lake, one of the first documentaries about the biodiversity of the Hoh Xil hinterland, received the Special Award: China Story. The film, produced over two years, showcases the landscape and wildlife of the region.
OUTDOCS, established in 2017, is an international platform for outdoor documentaries. Since its inception, it has received over 4,000 works from more than 100 countries and regions, covering a wide range of themes related to outdoor activities and nature.
The event was jointly organized by the Shanghai Media Group's Documentary Center and the OUTDOCS organizing committee.
60,000 of us heading in the same direction ... The #RestoreNatureNow March 22 June 2024
On Saturday 22 June, 60,000 activists walked through London. All ages, all backgrounds, an almost unimaginably broad range of interests and concerns. Even a few years ago we might have seemed disparate, unconnected with each other, but for a glorious, precious few hours we united behind two simple messages: 1) our world is dying, we need more nature - now, and 2) the next government needs to do far, far better than this one. ‘There’s no life without wildlife', ‘More species less faeces’, and frankly the door can’t hit the Tories hard enough on their way out…
It took a long, long time for the huge crowd to make its way down Park Lane and Piccadilly, along Whitehall towards Parliament Square. Hours of drums and whistles, sporadic chanting, and a colorful mile-long crocodile of people. Anti-oil campaigners to anti-hunt activists, bird, butterfly, and badger folk. The Red Rebel Brigade, face-painted children, and elaborate costumes. Small groups with placards about small-scale developments that will smash local wildlife hotspots. Banners the width of the road demanding we all take the climate crisis seriously. Restore Nature Now. Stop treating animals so appallingly. Protest, protest, protest like our lives depended on it. Like the lives of everything depended on it.
Somewhere way up at the front were the organisers and the speakers. Chris Packham, who somehow pulled this event off, a naturalist who has spent his entire adult life working towards bringing us all together like this. Emma Thompson, who spoke about political inaction on climate change, a ‘national treasure’ risking the wrath of fossil fuel lobbyists from the right-wing media. Feargal Sharkey (image below), the most effective - and if you’re of a certain age perhaps the most unexpected - campaigner against the rapaciousness of the privatised UK water industry. Dale Vince, the Ecotricity founder, a vegan who reminded us all that the biodiversity crisis has its deep roots in the food choices we all make. Sarah Finch, whose recent climate change legal challenge against Surrey County Council could prove pivotal in the fight against new oil licences. Nemonte Nenquimo, 2020 Goldman Prize Winner and member of the Waorani nation from the Amazonian region of Ecuador.
So many voices from young to old, from the famous to the less well-known (for now anyway). Impassioned activists talking to impassioned activists. No admonishment. Just a repeated plea to make change.
A huge and peaceful protest
This was - despite the seriousness of the message - a universally celebratory, peaceful and friendly march. That’s not meant as a direct comparison with any other march or any other cause, it’s a personal reflection on spending months writing about violent Boxing Day meets. Of seeing the snarling abuse from ‘countryside supporters’ routinely aimed at small protests against hunting and shooting or the badger cull. Of listening to the shocking experiences of monitors and sabs.
This felt inclusive. There was an air of relief as numbers built before it all started: how many? wow, that’s amazing. And trying to find friends, colleagues or supporters became all but impossible - unless (like in the image above) you found each other before the march began. But once that tide began to surge forward, differently paced, walking, stopping, walking again, it didn’t matter. Here we were, experienced and inexperienced, mingling and folding around each other with broad smiles before a pulse to the left or the right meant you found yourself alongside someone else to talk to or share that communal sense of ‘something is happening here’…
Will it make a difference? It has to.
Marches like this always cause the question to be asked: will it make a difference? In February 2003, around a million people marched in London against the looming Iraq war. The war still went ahead and millions died. This year hundreds of thousands of people have marched for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The war in Palestine still goes on and the beleaguered State looks set to become a bloodied dead zone. Today, 60,000 of us - and some will no doubt have been at those previous protests too - marched for nature. Will it make a difference?
It has to. We are at the crunch point. Right now. The crisis is here.
In February, Georgetown University biologist Colin Carlson calculated that since 2000 climate warming had already killed four million people through malnutrition, floods, diarrhoea, malaria and cardiovascular disease. A recent World Economic Forum report suggests that by 2050 climate change may cause an additional 14.5 million deaths. According to the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, an annual average of 21.5 million people were forcibly displaced each year by weather-related events between 2008 and 2016. ‘Climate migration’ is expected to surge in coming decades with predictions that 1.2 billion people could be displaced globally by 2050 due to climate change and natural disasters.
Around the world we are converting more and more land to feed ourselves, taking grasslands, tidal flats, woodland, and forests from wildlife. The UN Environmental Programme says that soils are turning infertile, water sources are drying up, and that one million species are threatened with extinction. That figure will be a huge underestimation as surveys rarely (if ever) keep up with the pace of decline, most species aren’t evaluated anyway, and in 2011 it was estimated that 86% of land species and 91% of marine species had yet to be identified and described.
Here in the UK we have become one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet. In April this year, Buglife reported that the abundance of flying insects ‘splatted’ on vehicle number plates had fallen by a staggering 78% since 2004. 26% of mammal species are now at risk of extinction in the UK. The number of wild birds in Britain has fallen by 73 million since 1970. 97% of flower meadows have been destroyed since the 1950s.
That loss doesn’t even consider the almost incomprehensible 78 billion land animals killed every year for humans to eat. More chickens are killed for food than any other land animal: in a single day, 202 million will be slaughtered. For ducks, the number is 12 million, while 3.8 million pigs, 1.7 million sheep, 1.4 million goats, and 900,000 cows are killed every day. No one knows for sure how many fish and crustaceans are pulled from rivers, bays, and oceans every year but it’s billions and billions more.
All these things are linked. Climate change, depletion, war, and exploitation of humans and non-humans alike - all symptoms of a bewildering lack of commonality, of rampant greed and arrogance, of thickheaded political ambition, of a collective failure of imagination, of speciesism and racism and a horribly widespread belief that some humans matter more than others, and all humans matter more than almost all non-humans.
It’s both the journey and the destination that matters
If any of us want to survive (and yes, of course it’s that serious) that mindset - those mindsets - has to change. The London march shows that an increasing number of us - and the organisations that we support and allow to speak for us - ‘get it’. We understand the linkages, see those connections.
That’s why we marched together towards Parliament and the speeches - holding different placards and banners perhaps, but together. Everyone from soil and plant groups to anti-hunt and conservation groups. Normally cautious NGOs with royal patrons walking alongside animal-rights activists and climate protestors who are prepared to risk arrest. Undivided, even if (temporarily hopefully) just temporarily.
It’s easy from the outside to dismiss a march as something ‘of a moment’, but for anyone who’s been in this sector for any length of time, it was clearly much more than that. The Parliament Square destination of course mattered - it was politically symbolic on one level, a vast exhalation of frustration and anger on another. But the journey mattered too. Not the route we all took down Piccadilly and past the Cenotaph, but the one we have all been taking now for decades. It’s been made despite our perceived differences and it has taken us along a track that has seen dots joined, seen us look past the silos, seen many of the barriers that should never have existed between allies removed.
There has been a growing comprehension that if we work for animals, for wildlife, for the climate, whatever we do, no matter how small or how large, we are working for the very same thing: the future of life - all life - on this planet.
What this march demonstrated above all else is that no matter what we focus on, when it comes to the biggest picture of all many of us are at last heading in the same direction.
(All images Protect the Wild. Many thanks to the Protect the Wild supporters who found us and spent the march with us. We appreciated your insight and feedback on our work, and we really enjoyed your company!)
Please consider donating to Protect the Wild if you support what we stand for! We’re working hard to empower people to protect British wildlife and every pound makes a huge difference: protectthewild.org.uk/donate
Watch live coverage hosted by Megan McCubbin from the Restore Nature Now march in London – special guests include Chris Packham, Feargal Sharkey, Liz Bonnin, Steve Backshall and more!
Keir Starmer and his Government must make nature one of their top priorities, green groups have urged.
A coalition of environmental campaigners, including the National Trust, WWF, RSPB and Extinction Rebellion, have called on the Prime Minister to address five major challenges to protect the UK’s environment and ecosystems. These include doubling the nature and climate-friendly farming budget to £6 billion, introducing new rules to make polluters pay for nature and climate recovery and expanding protected areas. The groups are also calling for the Government to table an Environmental Rights Bill and take climate actions like increasing home energy efficiency, supporting active travel and public transport, and transitioning to renewables. It comes after the coalition joined forces for the Restore Nature Now march in central London during the election campaign last month. More ...
Metro readers side with Packham – he’s only saying what Sir David already has ...
John (MetroTalk, Tue) says the BBC should send Chris Packham ‘packing’ after its presenter described the jail sentences for the Just Stop Oil protesters as a ‘grotesque miscarriage of justice’.
I disagree. Packham should be able to speak his mind. He is one of the ‘crown jewels’ of the BBC and is only reminding us of what Sir David Attenborough has already clearly stated – that we’re in a desperately serious climate and nature emergency, and all governments must take urgent action for the sake of all life on Earth and our children’s future.
Of course this is a miscarriage of justice. How is locking up five peaceful climate protesters for a total of 21 years proportionate for having a Zoom call [to plan the protests that closed the M25]when violent offenders and drug dealers serve less time?
As the United Nations secretary general António Guterres said in 2022, ‘We are on a fast track to climate disaster… Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals, but the truly dangerous radicals are the countries increasing the production of fossil fuels.’ – Helen Elwes, Oxford
"Packham and Attenborough have both voiced concern about climate change"
To PM Starmer and the new UK Government:
We condemn the gagging and jailing of peaceful climate protesters in UK courts. We call on you to stop silencing and jailing truth tellers. Repeal the Tories’ repressive legislation immediately, hold to account the corporate polluters who threaten life on Earth for profit, and restore the UK’s influential role in upholding democratic rights and international law.
This sentence is a gut-punch for us all. Peaceful climate activists will spend the next four to five years in jail.
Why? For leading a video call about a protest against the last government’s failure to act on climate change and its plans to “max out” on oil and gas.
This is the tragic result of repressive Tory laws which treat peaceful climate protesters as violent offenders. Activists can now be jailed for up to ten years! Meanwhile, big polluters destroy our planet with impunity.
Let’s demand the new Labour government repeals these anti-protest laws and holds corporate polluters accountable! Sign this urgent call to PM Starmer.
On July 21, 2024, Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd and many decade long anti-whaling activist, was arrested by Danish police upon arrival in Nuuk, Greenland, on board the ship John Paul DeJoria.
Danish authorities claim the arrest was made due to an international arrest warrant issued by Japan, related to his anti-whaling campaigns in the Antarctic more than a decade ago.
Paul faces the very real possibility of extradition to Japan, where he could potentially serve a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Captain Paul Watson features in Brock Initiative's Wildlife Winners & Losers Film Series film Are Whales Winning? ... check it out!
Are Whales Winning? Our attitude to whales and dolphins is confused. We love them in their home, the sea. We (some) love them in SeaWorld performing tricks. But SeaWorld and its money is now threatened by public opinion, and Japan, Norway and Iceland are the latest survivors still fighting not to save whales and dolphins in the wild. Who will win in this whale of a triangle?
"I repeat that famous quote from Sir Peter Scott "If we can't save the whale, we can't save anything".
And I'm sure that other grandfather of world conservation, Sir David Attenborough, would agree. He has been saying whaling is over. It isn't. So it would seem.
Try to embarrass the Japanese! How? Boycott Sony etc?"
Examples of huge corporations hit by bad publicity e.g. in Dubai, SeaWorld, Coca Cola, John Lewis, Unilever, Volkswagen, Shell. Every win for conservation adds to the power of film-makers in the future.
Jackson Wild Selects Finalists for 2024 Media Awards
Jackson Wild has announced the films selected as finalists for the 2024 Jackson Wild Media Awards. Considered the highest bar of achievement in natural history filmmaking, the Jackson Wild Media Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in nature, science, and conservation storytelling.
The 2024 Media Awards has been a record-breaking year with close to 500 films entering the competition, making this year's program one of the most exciting and competitive yet! Finalists were selected by more than 200 international judges, who collectively screened over 1,000 hours of media.
"The interest in this year's awards program has simply been off the charts with an exceptional group of judges elevating one of our most inspiring set of finalists ever." Said Geoff Daniels, Executive Director of Jackson Wild. “Given the state of our planet, this list of films has never been more globally relevant, impactful and truly must-see!"
Winners will be announced on Thursday, September 5 during the Jackson Wild Media Awards Gala at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring Maryland. To learn more and attend, visit jacksonwild.org/awards-gala.
Animal Behavior
Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory: Antarctic Killer Waves
National Geographic and Wildstar Films
Lions of the Skeleton Coast
A film by Will & Lianne Steenkamp for ORF, Thirteen, Arte and WDR
Mammals: Dark
BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced with BBC America, ZDF, YOUKU and France
Télévisions for BBC
Queens: Rainforest Queens
National Geographic and Wildstar Films
Ecosystem
Giants Rising
Tangent Productions in association with the Redford Center
Our Living World: Nature's Amazing Network
Wild Space and Freeborne Media for Netflix
Wilding
A Passion Planet and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios Production
Conservation
Earthsounds: Listening to Our Planet
Offspring Films for Apple TV+
MY MERCURY
A Dog Star Films, JoJi Films Production for A24 Films
Turtle Walker
Tiger Baby, Ceres, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Emaho Films
Wilding
A Passion Planet and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios Production
People & Nature
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
Silverback Films and National Geographic
Resident Orca
A film by Sarah Sharkey Pearce and Simon Schneider, produced by Everyday Films for CRAVE, a Bell Media Company, in association with Canada Media Fund and Rogers Documentary Fund.
Turtle Walker
Tiger Baby, Ceres, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Emaho Films
Planet in Crisis
Planetwalker
An Encompass Films Production, with Financial Support from Peak Design, Lush Cosmetics, Sierra Club, Nell Newman Foundation, Keystone Policy Center, The JoyTrip Project, Brico Fund, Aldo Leopold Foundation, Explorers Club, Darlene Anderson
Searching for Amani
A film by Backroad Pictures, Nicole Gormley, and Debra Aroko
The Here Now Project
Siskel/Jacobs Productions and Eleven Eleven Foundation
UNEARTH
Crooked Footprint, 22nd Century Films, LegaSeas, Resilient Foundation and Rogovy Foundation
Trailblazer
Life On Our Planet: In Cold Blood
Netflix, A Silverback Films Production in association with Amblin Television
Poacher: The Confessor
QC Entertainment, Suitable Pictures, Poor Man’s Productions, Eternal Sunshine Productions & PRIME VIDEO
Queer Planet
Plimsoll Productions and Peacock
Limited Series
Earthsounds
Offspring Films for Apple TV+
Planet Earth III
BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced by BBC America, ZDF, FTV and The Open University
Poacher
QC Entertainment, Suitable Pictures, Poor Man’s Productions, Eternal Sunshine Productions & PRIME VIDEO
Queens
National Geographic and Wildstar Films
Feature
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
Silverback Films and National Geographic
Canary
Oscilloscope Laboratories, End of The Road Films, Act 4 Entertainment, Boardwalk Pictures, and
REI Co-Op Studios
Every Little Thing
Dogwoof
Living with Leopards
Netflix, A Wild Space Production in Association with Natural History Film Unit Botswana and Freeborne Media
Global Voices
Kuishi Na Simba (Living With Lions)
Curiosity Stream, Ouragan Films, Siima Media, VII Foundation and Red Cameras
Ma naye ka Masaala a se ka Wometi (From God To Man)
A co-production of Nia Tero and Upstander Project in association with REI Co-op Studios.
The Last Defenders of Vietnam
Peddling Pictures and CNA, Mediacorp Pte Ltd
Turtle Walker
Tiger Baby, Ceres, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Emaho Films
Onscreen Personality
Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory: Patagonia Puma
National Geographic and Wildstar Films
Featuring: Bertie Gregory
Attenborough and The Giant Sea Monster
A BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for BBC and PBS with the WNET Group
Featuring: Sir David Attenborough
Lions of the Skeleton Coast
A film by Will & Lianne Steenkamp for ORF, Thirteen, Arte and WDR
Featuring: Dr Philip Stander
Trafficked: Underworlds with Mariana van Zeller Ep. Apes
National Geographic Channel and Muck Media
Featuring: Mariana van Zeller
Cinematography
Mammals: Water
BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced with BBC America, ZDF, YOUKU and France Télévisions for BBC
Cinematographers: Dan Beecham, Howard Bourne, Kevin Flay, Jeandre Gerding, Steve Hathaway, Jeff Hester, René Heuzey, Andre Rerekura, Roberto Rinaldi, Nuno Sá, Hector Skevington-Postles, Max Smith, Gavin Thurston and Alex Vail
Our Living World: The Rhythm of Life
Wild Space and Freeborne Media for Netflix
Cinematographers: Knut Aas, Ben Adams, James Aldred, Julian Braatvedt, Juan Pablo Bueno Gomez, Santiago Cabral, Maurício Copetti, Tania Escobar, James Ewen, Richard Fitzpatrick, Steve Hathaway, Michael Mauro, Mark Ó Fearghaíl, Alexander Sommer, Taylor Turner, Guillaume Beaudoin, Bernt Bruns, Santiago Espindola Rodriguez and Dariosky Gonzalez Romero.
Planet Earth III: Extremes
BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced by BBC America, ZDF, FTV and The Open University
Cinematographers: Luke Nelson, Kevin Flay, Justin Maguire, John Shier, Barrie Britton, Daniel Hunter, Edward Saltau, Pete Cayless, Justine Evans, Jake Davis, Oliver Mueller, Ronan Donovan, Alain Lusignan, Ryan Deboodt, Cyril Ruoso, Pascal Lorent, Stuart Trowell, Rolf Steinmann, Braydon Moloney
Queens: Tiny Jungle Queens
National Geographic and Wildstar Films
Director of Photography: Warwick Sloss
Cinematographers: Michael Male, Gail Kukula, Mark Payne-Gill, Tim Shepherd, Justine Evans, Robin Cox, Joris Van Alphen and Mohan SandHu
Editing
A Real Bug's Life: The Big City
Nat Geo WILD and Plimsoll Productions
Editor: Rick Holbrook
Earthsounds: Australian Forests
Offspring Films for Apple TV+
Editor: Alex Boyle
Photographer: Krystle Wright: Heart Explosions
Little Monster Films and National Geographic
Editors: Ann Rose, Fanny Lee
Planet Earth III: Freshwater
BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced by BBC America, ZDF, FTV and The Open University
Editor: Sam Rogers
Original Music Score
Among The Wolves
Le cinquieme reve, Belgica Films, Arte France, RTBF, Proximus
Composer: Lionel Polis
Greenland - Feeling the Heat
A Production by NDR Naturfilm, Doclights Vision Airways for NDR In Association with Terra Mater and distributed by ZDF Studios
Composers: Jörg Magnus Pfeil and Eivør Pálsdóttir
Queens: Tiny Jungle Queens National Geographic and Wildstar Films
Composer: Morgan Kibby
Writing
Attenborough and The Giant Sea Monster
A BBC Studios Natural History Unit production for BBC and PBS with the WNET Group
Writers: Sir David Attenborough, Victoria Bobin and Tom Jarvis
Evolution Earth
Produced by Passion Planet in association with PBS and Arte France for Love Nature.
Writer: Oliver Twinch
Lions of the Skeleton Coast
A film by Will & Lianne Steenkamp for ORF, Thirteen, Arte and WDR
Writers: Will & Lianne Steenkamp, Alan Miller
Sound
Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold: On Thin Ice
National Geographic and Plimsoll Productions
Dubbing Mixer: Brian Moseley
Field Sound Recordist: Jim Hurst
Earthsounds: Australian Forests
Offspring Films for Apple TV+
Sound: Wounded Buffalo
Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough: Hunters and Hunted
Humble Bee Films Ltd, Infield Fly Productions, Sky Nature, Netflix, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Abacus Media Rights
Sound: Chris Watson, Keith Henderson, Bill Rudolph, Dino Schiavone and Ioannis Spanos
Social
Making the Leap
Douglas Main, Zach Baumgartner, and National Geographic
The Unseen
On The Edge and Able & Baker
Unwind
Kate Colley
Wild Hope: Student Rewilders
An HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Red Rock Films Production for PBS Nature on YouTube
Student
A Hole with a View
Felix Prator, National Film and Television School
Against the Herd
Jaxon Derow, National Film and Television School
Beyond the Bay
Daniel Green, National Film and Television School
Death at Sea
Sara Pipernos, University of the West of England - Bristol; Cinematography: Mikey Sneddon; Assistant Director: Nyal Mueenuddin; Major funders: Blue Marine Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Human Rights at Sea International, Sustainable Communities and Fisheries Trust
Shorts - Wild Heroes
Flora, Fauna, Funga
National Geographic Society Impact Story Lab
Groundwork: Building Community Through Regenerative Rubber
The North Face and Gnarly Bay
Indai Apai Darah
Produced by Nia Tero and Sungai Utik Community as a member of the Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara
Shorts - Wildlife & Environment
Boca Chica
A film by Ái Vuong and Samuel Díaz Fernández, TÁPI Studios Reel South, PBS
How Humans Are Reshaping Elephant Evolution
Day's Edge Productions for PBS
Life (cycle) of the Hong Kong Newt
Frigatefilms
Marmots on Toast
Dream Wild Films
The Bird in My Backyard
Trochilus Films, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)
Shorts - Impact Stories
Existimos en la Memoria (We Exist in Memory)
A Home Collective Production
Directed by: Darian Woehr
Produced by: Hailey Sadler, Bruna Kadletz, Argenia Centeno
UNDAMMED
PATAGONIA
Wild Hope: The Frog Ark
An HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Red Rock Films Production for PBS Nature on YouTube
Innovation in Green Production
An Optimist's Guide to the Planet with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
A Canada-United Kingdom Co-production,
A Cream and Wildfire Television Production in association with Bloomberg and Bell Media With the participation of Ill Kippers Aps
Earthsounds
Offspring Films for Apple TV+
Planet Earth III
BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced by BBC America, ZDF, FTV and The Open University
Rebels with Cause
A Limpet Films Production for WaterBear and Imagine5
Impact Campaign
Catapults to Cameras
Roundglass Sustain and Ashwika Kapur
Impact Producers: Ashwika Kapur, Samreen Farooqui, Suvrajyoti Chatterjee (Heal).
The Elephant Queen
A Deeble, Stone & Oliff Production and Apple Original
Watershed
The Redford Center, Kontent Films
We Are Guardians
RandomGood Films, Appian Way, Highly Flammable, Mídia Indígena and One Forest
Honorable Mention
399: Queen of the Tetons
A Production of Lucky 8 in association with the WNET Group and PBS
Birdsong
True Films, RTÉ, Coimisiún na Meán
Bring Them Home / Aiskótáhkapiyaaya
Thunderheart Films
Chasing Time
Exposure Labs
Farming While Black
Directed by Mark Decena; Produced by Liz Lupino Decena and Kontent Films
The Call of Glaciers
China Global Television Network (CGTN)
For over 30 years, Jackson Wild has been a catalyst for accelerating and elevating impactful storytelling at the nexus of nature, science, and conservation. Through innovative and collaborative community gatherings, skill-building initiatives, and mentorship programs, Jackson Wild creates an inclusive forum for storytellers to more deeply illuminate connections to the natural world and our collective responsibility to the wild.
Jackson Wild’s international board members include: ARRI, ARTE France, BBC Studios, Blue Ant Media / Love Nature, Conservation International, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Doclights, GBH, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, Humane Society International, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Jane Goodall Institute, Lucky 8, NHK, National Geographic Content, National Geographic Society, Nature/WNET, Netflix, NEWF (Nature, Environment, Wildlife, Filmmaking), Off the Fence Productions, ORF Universum, PBS, RED Digital Cinema, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Sony Electronics, Terra Mater Studios, Wanda Films, Waterbear, Wildstar Films, and World Wildlife Fund.
Attend the 2024 Jackson Wild Media Awards Gala!
It’s been a record-breaking year for the 2024 Media Awards. With close to 500 films entering the competition - over 1000 hours of content screened by more than 200 international judges to recognize 81 finalists – this promises to be one of the most exciting programs in Jackson Wild’s 32-year history!
Join us on Thursday, September 5 for the 2024 Jackson Wild Media Awards Gala, a night dedicated to honoring excellence in wildlife filmmaking. Celebrate the extraordinary talent and dedication of our finalists as we recognize their achievements in captivating and impactful storytelling. This inspiring evening will culminate in the announcement of the winning films, followed by an after party to reconnect with friends and colleagues. The event will take place at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland. Seating is limited, so please be sure to get your tickets NOW!
At this year's closing party IWFF dusted off the archives to show film footage from 1989 ... Missoula Community Access Television, located in the Missoula Public Library, shares more from the 90's.
The mission of the International Wildlife Film Festival is to promote awareness, knowledge, and understanding of wildlife, habitat, people, and nature through excellence in film. The long-standing festival champions wildlife filmmakers and challenges conventional expectations about how we conserve wildlife and habitat.
See the playlist for highlights of early festivals, workshops and wild walks!
Planet Earth III Live in Concert: an “intensely impactful” show
Breathtaking footage from the TV series becomes an immersive experience
Mike Gunton is a TV producer and senior executive at the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the world’s largest production unit dedicated to wildlife filmmaking. In 2009, he became its first creative director. In this role, he is responsible for bringing new stories about the natural world to global audiences, including nature documentary series Planet Earth II (2016) and Planet Earth III (2023).
Gunton is set to serve as the live host for the “intensely impactful and utterly memorable” Planet Earth III live concert coming to London and Manchester later this year. The show, he tells blooloop, aims to remind audiences “how diverse, in a biological sense, and how wonderful the natural world still is.”
At the concert, guests will see a selection of breathtaking moments from the acclaimed TV series on a giant state-of-the-art LED screen, accompanied by music performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
“There is still so much to see and to understand. It’s hubris of us to think we know everything about the natural world. We do not,” he says.
“In the natural world, the complexity of the ecology, of how the natural world actually works as a machine; we need to understand that, because it’s our salvation. Our lives depend on that, and our survival depends on understanding that.”
Gunton has developed and produced series including Galapagos, Yellowstone, Madagascar, Life, Africa, Shark, Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur, Life Story, Dynasties and The Green Planet.
Planet Earth III Live in Concert is coming to UK arenas with 3 special performances in London and Manchester in October 2024.
Featuring breath-taking footage from the sensational television series produced by the multi-award-winning BBC Studios Natural History Unit and the remarkable music score by Oscar winner Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea and Sara Barone for Bleeding Fingers Music, performed by the fabulous City Of Prague Philharmonic orchestra.
New Apple Immersive Video series, films, concerts, and more set to premiere on Apple Vision Pro
Apple Vision Pro users will experience breathtaking series, films, and more spanning action-adventure, documentary, music, scripted, sports, and travel
Apple is releasing all-new series and films captured in Apple Immersive Video that will debut exclusively on Apple Vision Pro. Apple Immersive Video is a remarkable storytelling format that leverages 3D video recorded in 8K with a 180-degree field of view and Spatial Audio to transport viewers to the center of the action.
Boundless, a new series that invites viewers to experience once-in-a-lifetime trips from wherever they are, premieres in the U.S. at 6 p.m. PT July 18, with “Hot Air Balloons” and will be available globally this fall. The next installment of Wild Life, the nature documentary series that brings viewers up close to some of the most charismatic creatures on the planet, and Elevated, an aerial travel series that whisks viewers around iconic vistas from staggering heights, will launch this fall.
Later this year, users can enjoy special performances featuring the world’s biggest artists, starting with an immersive experience from The Weeknd; the first scripted Apple Immersive short film, Submerged, written and directed by Academy Award winner Edward Berger; a behind-the-scenes and on-the-court view of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend; and Big-Wave Surfing, the first installment of a new sports series with Red Bull.
“Apple Immersive Video is a groundbreaking leap forward for storytelling, offering Apple Vision Pro users remarkable experiences with an unparalleled sense of realism and immersion,” said Tor Myhren, Apple’s vice president of Marketing Communications. “From soaring over volcanoes in Hawaii and surfing huge waves in Tahiti, to enjoying performances by the world’s biggest artists and athletes from all-new perspectives, Apple Immersive Video revolutionizes the way people experience places, stories, sports, and more by making viewers feel like they’re truly there. It’s the next generation of visual storytelling, and we’re excited to bring it to more people around the world.”
Wild Life
Apple releases the second episode of Wild Life, which takes viewers to Kenya’s Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where orphaned elephants find their footing in the care of their keepers, frolic in frothy mud baths, and form a chosen family with each other, their human companions, and the wild elephants that roam the lands beyond. Later this year, viewers will brave the deep with a bold group of divers in the Bahamas, who come face-to-face with apex predators and discover creatures much more complex than often portrayed.
Film About Murdered Wildlife Ranger Whose Story Moved Prince William Released on Anniversary of Death
'Rhino Man,' which tells the story of Anton Mzimba and fellow rangers who tackle the poaching and illegal trade of rhino horn, is out on July 26 ... A moving documentary that tells the story of a murdered wildlife ranger is set for release on July 26, the second anniversary of his death.
Rhino Man tells the life-and-death struggle of rangers as they face poachers and illegal traders in wildlife in Africa.
Central to the story was Anton Mzimba, a South African ranger who was murdered by wildlife traffickers in 2022 after dedicating his working life to protecting Africa's wild animals. Prince William, who connected with Mzimba months before his death, added his name to the tributes to the ranger a day later.
Prince William also attended a special screening of the film in 2023 and added his voice in a recorded message that was played for supporters before the movie's premieres in South Africa, New York City, Atlanta and Toronto.
Mzimba epitomized the battle that rangers undergo every day as they seek to protect rhinos hunted for their rhino horn. The Prince of Wales, who set up his United for Wildlife to build a consortium to tackle illegal wildlife trade, said in 2023 that Mzimba’s murder was "a stark reminder of the daily dangers that all rangers face around the world protecting the natural world from the international criminal organizations that seek to profit illegally from wildlife, and I’m proud to see his life and legacy recognized in Rhino Man."
On the eve of the film being available to stream on Apple, Google Play and Vimeo (soon to be followed on Amazon and Fandango), director John Jurko tells PEOPLE that Prince William's support has been crucial.
"We were a ragtag team putting this film together for seven years before William got involved," the director says. "It definitely gave us more credibility.”
Capturing the Grit and Glory of Anti Poaching Efforts with Blackmagic Design
“Guardians” is the gripping new documentary series that sheds light on the courageous work of anti poaching rangers in the Zambezi Delta of Mozambique. Produced by Conservation Film Company for EarthXTV, the 7 x 23 minute docuseries tracks these unsung heroes as they protect endangered wildlife in one of Africa’s most challenging environments.
Through stunning cinematography and intimate storytelling, “Guardians” offers a unique glimpse into the daily struggles and triumphs of these dedicated individuals.
“‘Guardians’ is a character led factual series that goes beyond the headlines to show audiences the effort that goes into safeguarding wildlife in Africa through the eyes of the local people on the front line,” explains Sean Viljoen, series director (and camera operator). “We wanted to tell their story as cinematically as possible.” Wildlife under threat
During the recent civil war in the country, wildlife across all species, including large mammals, declined by 90 percent. It was then protected and wildlife recovered, but as human populations grew, subsistence poaching crept back in, as well as poaching for bush meat markets.
Conservation Film Company spent seven weeks filming alongside the 19 rangers employed to protect the vast 2,000 square kilometers of the Coutada 11 safari concession in Mozambique. With limited resources available in the field, the production team needed versatile tools to capture high quality footage while minimizing logistical complexities.
For “Guardians,” they carried a broad kit list of digital film cameras including the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K, Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF and Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 alongside several Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pros.
“Most of the content we were creating was handheld. We were often jumping on the back of motorbikes with the anti poaching guys so that limited the amount of kit we could bring with us, while there was also a number of different types of content we were trying to cover. All our cameras were rigged as lightly as possible for a run and gun type setup,” notes Viljoen.
Jump into the gritty world of anti-poaching. Discover how Mfana Xaba and his elite anti-poaching unit track and take down big game poachers in the Zambezi Delta. Perilous patrols, family balance, and poacher pursuits come to life in this crime-fighting series that shines a personal light on saving wildlife.
Orangutans are not just one of our closest relatives, they’re perhaps more relatable to us than any other great ape.
Narrated by David Attenborough, this film follows a remarkable group of orangutans in the pristine jungles of Sumatra. At the centre of this story is 8 year old Eden, who’s about to embark on the most challenging moment of her life..
This resource complements last year's Biodiversity Guide, offering up-to-date guidance on nature-friendly productions, legal requirements, supply chain biodiversity, and measuring the business impact of nature-positive decisions.
They've also updated the Biodiversity Guide to provide extra support for industry professionals aiming to make their productions more nature-friendly.
Between 1974 and 2007 the ABC had its own Natural History Unit to share the wonders of this ancient continent in all its feathered, furred and scaled glory - an astonishing archive of our times and our changing regard for nature.
TThat archive has been examined inMaking Animals Public and looks at how changing attitudes and technologies have shaped nature documentaries and the way we see animals over the past 70 years of television.
Image left: A Lyre bird captured in the early ABC documentary Dancing Orpheus
Guest: Gay Hawkins, Co-author Making Animals Public and Emeritus Professor at Western Sydney University
Cartoon Network Climate Champions Publish Survey on Kids’ Uunderstanding of Electronic Waste
According to the UN, electronic waste (e-waste) is the world’s fastest-growing domestic waste stream, with production expected to reach 82 million tonnes globally per year by 2030, this includes items such as mobile phones, laptops, MP3 players, plugs and batteries. With e-waste increasingly impacting lives across the globe, and the World Health Organisation calling e-waste the ‘next growing threat to the environment’ Cartoon Network has partnered with Envision Racing to launch a cross-platform EMEA wide campaign toinform, engage, and empower children about e-waste.
E-waste is very relevant to Cartoon Network’s audience as it has an increasing impact on kids’ lives. As digital and tech natives, electronics play a fundamental role in their everyday life. All kids around the world can relate to e-waste with toys being a massive source: 7.3 billion e-toys (car racing sets, electric trains, music toys, talking dolls, drones etc) are now discarded annually. That’s an average of 1 per person on Earth!
A research survey undertaken by Cartoon Network found that 70% of children aged 6-11 across the EMEA region, had not heard of e-waste or were aware but not sure / had no idea what it means. Results from the study show that:
MAJORITY OF KIDS AGED 6-11 YRS. CLAIM TO HAVE HEARD OF E-WASTE, BUT IN REALITY, FEW (30%) KNOW WHAT IT MEANS
KIDS IN POLAND (47%), TURKEY (37%) & SOUTH AFRICA (28%) MORE FAMILIAR WITH E-WASTE THAN PEERS IN UK (19%) AND FRANCE (17 %)
POLISH KIDS (81 %) ARE NOTABLY MORE LIKELY TO LINK E-WASTE WITH THE CORRECT DEFINITION vs. OTHER MARKETS; UK (26%) & FRANCE (19%) UNDER-INDEX
MOST KIDS (87 %) HAVE AT LEAST ONE E-WASTE ITEM AT HOME WITH KIDS’ TOYS, HEADPHONES & TABLETS AMONG THE TOP 3
MANY KIDS SAY THEY STORE E-WASTE ITEMS AT HOME OR THROW THEM AWAY, HIGHLIGHTING THE NEED FOR EDUCATION
Source: EMEA Kids Insights, primary research survey conducted on the Quantilope platform, Aug’23; sample size n=1,500, Audience: Kids aged 6-11 yrs. ; Markets: UK, S. Africa, France, Turkey & Poland;
In response to this data, Cartoon Network recognised the opportunity to benefit both the planet and children by using its combined platforms, reach, and the expertise of Envision Racing to highlight the issue of electronic waste. The e-waste campaign aims to raise awareness and understanding through new, fun, relatable, and inspiring content designed to encourage action via e-waste-themed Climate Champions challenges, informative videos, quizzes and trivia.
Cartoon Network Climate Champions’ new e-waste video content will air on the Cartoon Network channel and includes a “Guide to E-waste” video that explains what e-waste is, why it’s an important issue and the basics of how we can help tackle it. Cartoon Network will also air e-waste promos, explaining issues around e-waste with a call to action on how kids can get involved in tackling it, and share weekly uploads to its social & YouTube channels to help broaden reach and drive key e-waste messages home.
In addition, children can find new, fun and informative e-waste content in the Cartoon Network Climate Champions app and on the website. This includes new e-waste challenges, new facts and trivia about e-waste, new quizzes, new voting cards, and new videos featuring real kids talking about the issue of electronic waste.
Among the many e-waste challenges available includes the ‘Device Rescue Mission,’ where children check their homes for old electronic devices that can be recycled, the ‘No Crossed Wires’ challenge, which involves taking care of chargers by preventing damage from wire tangles, and the ‘Phone Numbers!’ challenge, where kids count the number of mobile phones in their homes, including unused ones.
Warner Bros Discovery, VP Brand, Comms and Digital Content Strategy, Monika Oomen says: "E-waste is highly relevant to children, yet our research indicates a notable gap between their intentions and actions, primarily due to a lack of knowledge on proper disposal methods. It is encouraging to witness the agency among kids, and our goal is to help translate their intentions into meaningful actions."
Cartoon Network’s Climate Champions initiative empowers and inspires young people to act and help the environment. Kids aged 6-12 can become Climate Champions by taking on daily challenges and making a significant difference together. The collaboration with the world champion racing team, Envision Racing, underscores Cartoon Network’s commitment to educating young minds.
Cartoon Network further expands the Climate Champions initiative by integrating it into Cartoon Network Game On! Through gamification on Roblox, tackling e-waste challenges is made available in the Metaverse. As previously announced, Cartoon Network and Envision Racing launched a Climate E-Racers mini-game, allowing players to race each other in vehicles customised with e-waste collected in the game, while completing Climate Champions challenges along the way. Incorporating the e-waste Climate Challenges ensures that this crucial message reaches children during their playtime. Launched in May, Climate E-Racers has amassed 1 million visits.
As part of Envision Racing’s Race Against Climate Change programme, the team has long aimed to energise fans to help save the planet, with the growing problem of e-waste a recent focus. In 2023 the team unveiled the world’s first, fully driveable race car made entirely out of e-waste to highlight the growing worldwide problem.
About Envision Racing
Envision Racing is a racing team which develops electric racing technologies and is also one of the founding and most successful outfits in the FIA Formula E World Championship and the current World Champions.
Owned by Envision, Envision Racing has sustainability running through its DNA and was created for one simple purpose, to inspire generations to tackle climate change and transition to e-mobility and renewable energy. Both on and off the track, Envision Racing focus on accelerating and promoting innovation and change that will help us to live more sustainably, using their Race Against Climate Change™ program to mobilise fans around the world to be part of this change.
Cartoon Network is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery and the #1 global animated series network, offering the best in original content for kids and families with such hits as Apple & Onion, Ben 10, Craig of the Creek, The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe, The Amazing World of Gumball, Teen Titans Go!, We Baby Bears, and more. Seen in more than 185 countries, over 450 million homes and in 33 languages, Cartoon Network inspires the next generation of creators and innovators by engaging its audience at the intersection of creativity and technology. Its award-winning pro-social initiatives, Stop Bullying: Speak Up and Cartoon Network Buddy Network are acknowledged and often used resources for kids and adults looking for tools that can assist in dealing with the ongoing issue of bullying.
For anyone that heard the rumours or saw the #RIPCartoonNetwork hashtag: "Cartoon Network would like to clarify that there is no truth to the speculation that the network or the studio are shutting down. With a number of recently announced greenlights, we remain committed to continually investing in innovative content that entertains and inspires our viewers across the globe."
Lifetime Achievement Award for Indian wildlife filmmaking pioneers Bedi brothers
16th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala to be held from July 26 to 31 at the Kairali, Sree, Nila Theatres
The 16th edition of the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) will honour documentary filmmakers Naresh Bedi and Rajesh Bedi (Bedi Brothers), known for their pioneering work in Indian wildlife filmmaking, with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will present the award at the opening ceremony of the festival at Kairali Theatre on July 26 at 6 p.m. The award includes 2 lakh, a memento sculpture, and a citation.
Naresh and Rajesh Bedi have dedicated over four decades to capturing the enigmatic beauty of India’s fauna through their documentaries and photographs. Their work, characterised by its educational and conservation-centric focus, has profoundly influenced public understanding of India’s natural history.
Graduated from Film and Television Institute of India in 1969, Naresh Bedi, eschewed a career in Hindi cinema, joining forces with his younger brother Rajesh to venture into the then-uncharted territory of wildlife filmmaking in India. Their debut project, The Ganges Gharial, filmed with a hand-cranked camera, revealed previously unknown behavioural traits of this elusive crocodilian and garnered international acclaim, including the prestigious Panda Award at Wildscreen in 1984.
Their subsequent documentaries on tigers, elephants, and other wildlife have been showcased globally on major television networks. Notable works include Saving the Tiger and Man-eating Tigers, both of which received BAFTA nominations.
Rajesh Bedi’s photographic prowess has been equally celebrated. His book Indian Wildlife, illustrated with his photographs, was released in 1987. His images which are featured in the National Geographic, have also graced Indian postage stamps. In 1986, Rajesh was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the United Kingdom.
Nyal won the BAFTA Student Award for his documentary, When the Floods Come which tells the stories of people living with flood and drought along the Indus valley in Pakistan.
The people of Pakistan are the victims of “a grim calculus of climate injustice”, said the UN secretary-general António Guterres, reminding the “supersized price for man-made climate change” on the country.
On the BAFTA success, Nyal said he is “unbelievably honoured”. The Pakistani-American filmmaker and photographer completed a MA Wildlife Filmmaking course at UWE Bristol in February 2024.
With an educational background in environmental science and South Asian studies, he has been working on telling stories of Pakistan’s natural diversity and environmental challenges.
In the aftermath of the 2022 floods in Pakistan, Nyal said he “felt bewildered that in all the coverage of this climate disaster, displacing tens of millions and crippling countless families and communities across the country, I did not see a single personal testimony of the real people impacted by this calamity.”
Universities and colleges worldwide were invited to submit their best projects for consideration. It was no mean feat for BAFTA members as they viewed some 800 submissions from 109 schools across 37 countries, with Nyal’s documentary chosen as the overall winner from a shortlist of three.
Nyal said: “I am unbelievably honoured to have won a Student BAFTA for my documentary and I’d like to thank the team who worked alongside me on this project.
“I hoped that by tapping into the most intimate stories of the lives of Pakistanis, living in a rapidly changing world, and by sharing them as far and wide as we could, perhaps we could touch the remaining threads of humanity within the people who hold the power to make the changes needed to protect our people from an inhabitable future
Renowned Orcadian wildlife cameraman and photographer Raymond Besant has been recognised with an Honorary Degree at the University where he once studied.
After graduating from Robert Gordon University (RGU) with a BSc (Hons) in Biosciences with Biomedical Science, he spent the early days of his career as a press photographer with The Press and Journal newspaper in Aberdeen before moving into capturing film and images of wildlife.
His debut film, The Flying Dustbin, focused on the plight of Fulmars who were accidentally ingesting plastic and won two awards at the International Wildlife Film Festival in Montana in 2009. This production proved vital as it opened the door for Raymond to specialise as a long-lens wildlife cameraman and work with the BBC’ Natural History Unit as well as other production companies.
Raymond worked on the BBC’s Wild Isles series which was presented by Sir David Attenborough and he went to the West Coast of Greenland to film for Frozen Planet II. He spent nine weeks working at heights of up to 16,000ft on the Tibetan Plateau as part of the Wild China series.
Professor Steve Olivier, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, said: “The images captured by Raymond shine a light on the fascinating creatures that live in our seas, skies and mountains as well as highlighting the ongoing climate crisis. It is fantastic for RGU to honour not only a notable alum, but also someone who making real strides to give us a better understanding of nature.
“His work is a real source of inspiration for the University, and I am sure our own sustainability efforts can only benefit from his unique insight into this important topic.”
Botswana Wildlife Film School Graduates First Batch Of Filmmakers
The Botswana Wildlife Film School in Kasane has this week graduated the first batch of 20 students, which is one of the key deliverables under the project Botswana Ignite, commonly known as the Steve Harvey Global partnership project.
The Wildlife Documentary Academy aims to equip young Batswana filmmakers to meaningfully participate in the global space within this genre and is intended to train a minimum of 240 young people over the course of three years. The project is also intended to facilitate the creative industry in the film and television space. Another batch of 20 students has commenced training this week.
Speaking during the official launch of the academy, Assistant Minister of Presidential Affairs Boitumelo Gofhamodimo said the project is one of the flagships under the Economic Recovery and Transformation Program by which President Mokgweetsi Masisi is determined to boost the economy of Botswana by diversifying the economy and unlocking the value chains towards economic growth. Gofhamodimo added that the wildlife documentary genre represents a significant part of the global content market.
“What is clear is that while Botswana’s animals and iconic images have graced many documentaries, there is very little participation by Batswana in the making of such. The main reason has been lack of skills, networking, and other opportunities for Batswana to participate,” she said.
She stated that the partnership with Steve Harvey Global is meant to catalyse participation in this space through their networks and influence. Gofhamodimo noted that they expect that the graduates from the training will form the first cohort of highly trained and passionate producers of content in the wildlife documentary space.
Nat Geo teams with Sir David Attenborough for “Ocean” special
National Geographic is teaming with iconic naturalist and television presenter David Attenborough for a feature-length special that will tackle the health of the world’s oceans.
Produced by Silverback Films in association with All3Media International, David Attenborough: Ocean (w/t), marks the first collaboration between Attenborough and Nat Geo, and sports backing from Ocean Ten Media, Minderoo Productions, National Geographic Society and Pristine Seas, Don Quixote ASBL and The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. The special is slated for 2025, with a theatrical run set to precede its debut on the Nat Geo network and via streaming services Disney+ and Hulu.
Billing the project as Attenborough’s “most powerful message yet,” Nat Geo says the special will dive deeply into incredible undersea habitats to not only shine a spotlight on the problems facing the world’s oceans, but also on discoveries that could provide opportunities for significant recovery.
Doug Anderson (Our Planet, Blue Planet) will serve as director of underwater photography, with teams headed to the Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania. The film is directed by Toby Nowlan, Keith Scholey and Colin Butfield, and produced by Nowlan for Silverback. Executive producers include Louise Pedersen and Rachel Job for All3Media International; Tom McDonald and Janet Han Vissering for National Geographic; Jasper Smith and Arksen Ltd for 10% for the Ocean, Minderoo Productions Limited; Enric Sala for National Geographic Society and Pristine Seas; Kristin Rechberger for Dynamic Planet; Rolly van Rappard and Francoise van Rappard for Don Quixote ASBL; and HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco for The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
“My lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery,” said Attenborough in a statement. “Over the last hundred years, scientists and explorers have revealed remarkable new species, epic migrations and dazzling, complex ecosystems beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man. In this film, we share those wonderful discoveries, uncover why our ocean is in such poor health, and, perhaps most importantly, show how it can bounce back to life.”
“There is no one better to deliver this landmark film than Sir David,” added Tom McDonald, Nat Geo EVP of global factual and unscripted content and former BBC factual exec. I have had the
privilege and pleasure of working with him many times over the past decade, and so I am, of
course, personally and professionally thrilled that he has agreed to work with National Geographic
for the very first time on a subject that is timely and close to his heart.”
Astonishing story of 20-year South Downs National Park campaign told in riveting new book
The extraordinary story of the 20-year campaign to protect the treasured South Downs with National Park status is told in a new book by Midhurst author Robin Crane.
The former wildlife film producer was one of the original seven who founded the South Downs Campaign and he chaired the meetings throughout the long fight.
Robin said his recently-published book,The Fight for the South Downs, tells the 'almost unbelievable' story of the campaign.
He added: "The story of our 20-year fight to get a National Park is a significant event in local, and national, history. This is a story that I believe needed to be told, how a swathe of south-east England became a National Park, protected for future generations for them to enjoy and nurture.
"All of us who were involved are proud of what has become the South Downs National Park. John Templeton, one of our doughty campaigners, said of our story that ‘you couldn’t make it up, it is something too astonishing to be believed!’.
"I have received rave reviews about the book. I’m greatly encouraged by people who knew nothing of our history, who have said that once they began reading the book, the story was so gripping they couldn’t put it down.”
Robin was ‘thrilled to bits’ to have the cover picture by Gordon Rushmer, as it encapsulates the South Downs, featuring downland, woodland, river, fields and community in one stunning painting.
The Fight For The South Downs – The long struggle to protect one of Britain's most treasured landscapes Written by Robin Crane, Edited by Margaret Paren
Those who have a deep affection for Britain’s countryside will be totally absorbed by this extraordinary history of environmentalists’ efforts to conserve the glorious South Downs.
After describing the special qualities of the area and earlier attempts to safeguard it, the story of a twenty-year campaign to secure National Park status for this special part of England is recounted.
Strong forces opposed, but the South Downs Campaign, which eventually grew to represent 159 national, regional and local groups, won through and the national park was established in 2010.
Author Robin Crane chaired the meeting of seven people who founded the South Downs Campaign in 1990. He remained chairman until the South Downs National Park was finally designated. From the outset the campaign was run by a team of both volunteers and professionals. The Campaign for National Parks, The Ramblers Association, Sussex Wildlife Trust and Sussex and Hampshire CPREs were the lead organisations. Margaret Paren, who took a prominent role in the last half of the Campaign has edited this book. She chaired the South Downs National Park Authority for its first ten years.
AUTHOR ROBIN CRANE - After seven years as a regular army officer Robin Crane joined Guinness as a maltster. This led him to Lincolnshire where he became actively involved with the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. A film he made for the Trust resulted in the BBC Natural History Unit recruiting him to make programmes for the “World About Us” series. He moved to Sussex in 1967 where he established his own production company and made environmental, scientific, equestrian, training and public relations films which won several national and international awards. He became chairman of the Sussex Wildlife Trust and then chairman of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation In 1999 he was awarded the CBE for services to nature conservation. Meanwhile in 1990 he chaired the first meeting of the South Downs Campaign. He remained as chairman, treasurer and fund-raiser until the South Downs National Park was confirmed. In recognition of this work he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the University of Sussex in 2010.
The book, published by Brown Dog Books on the 18th of April 2024, is available at: Amazon.co.uk
All Through the Night: Why Our Lives Depend on Dark Skies by Dani Robertson
Embark on an illuminating journey with All Through the Night, as Dark Sky Officer Dani Robertson
unveils the wonders of our night skies and reveals the havoc wreaked by light pollution.
Step back in time and discover the electrifying story behind the invention of Edison’s light bulb to the modern-day reign of bright lights that bewilder our planet’s wildlife. Throughout this fascinating history of darkness, Dani uses her personal experience and career to show why night- time is something for us to protect, not be fearful of.
Travel to the realm of dreams and ancient myths inspired by the constellations, understand why scenes captured by some of the greatest artists can no longer be witnessed in the same way today, and learn how the animals we share our world with are unable to hide under the cover of darkness.
Interspersed with inspiring stories from cultures the world over, All Through the Night is both a celebration of the star-speckled blanket above us and a call to reclaim the night, one light switch at a time.
‘It is a thought-provoking book that sends light onto our need to love darkness.’ Mary Colwell, author of Curlew Moon.
‘Read the book, look up in awe, and act.’ Mike Parker, author of All the Wide Border.
Best New Books on Space 2024 – ‘Rarely is a non-fiction book about science this engaging’ – Forbes
Dani Robertson, a Dark Sky Officer for Snowdonia National Park, is originally from Greater Manchester but moved to the Welsh countryside at an early age. She is prolific in her conservation work and passionate about championing the darkness for all and is a regular speaker at public outreach events. Her advocacy for night skies was recognised by the International Dark Sky Association in 2022, when she received the Dark Sky Defender Award. All Through the Night is her first book and will equip readers with the tools for defending our skies. She lives in Wales with her husband and their two dogs. She can be on socials via @DaniDarkSkies
Published by HarperNorth, 14th September 2023, available at Amazon.co.uk
Nature’s Ghosts: The world we lost and how to bring it back by Sophie Yeo
For thousands of years, humans have been the architects of the natural world. Our activities have permanently altered the environment – for good and for bad.
In Nature’s Ghosts, award-winning journalist Sophie Yeo examines how the planet would have looked before humans scrubbed away its diversity: from landscapes carved out by megafauna to the primeval forests that emerged following the last Ice Age, and from the eagle-haunted skies of the Dark Ages to the flower-decked farms of more recent centuries.
Uncovering the stories of the people who have helped to shape the landscape, she seeks out their footprints even where it seems there are none to be found. And she explores the timeworn knowledge that can help to fix our broken relationship with the earth.
Along the way, Sophie encounters the environmental detectives – archaeological, cultural and ecological – reconstructing, in stunning detail, the landscapes we have lost.
Today, the natural world is more vulnerable than ever; the footprints of humanity heavier than they have ever been. But, as this urgent book argues, from the ghosts of the past, we may learn how to build a more wild and ancient future.
‘Sophie writes fantastically, chronicling the most important issues facing nature conservationists today.’ – Chris Packham
'Fascinating, deeply researched and breathtaking in its scope.' – Guy Shrubsole
'A wondrous book and a ticket for environmental time travel.' Tristan Gooley
Longlisted for the 2024 Wainwright Prize for Writing on Conservation
Published by HarperNorth, 23rd May 2024, available at: Amazon.co.uk
Amphibious Soul: Finding the wild in a tame world by Craig Foster
An awe-inspiring narrative about the power of nature and our place within it, from the creator of My Octopus Teacher, filmmaker Craig Foster.
An adventure story, love story, travelogue, naturalist memoir, and spiritual guide, Craig Foster's Amphibious Soul is a scientist and adventurer’s perspective on “rewilding” – developing a deep connection to our animal selves that can reinvigorate our lives. Told in Craig’s warm and passionate voice, this extraordinary book will change not only the way we interact with the natural world, but the way we fundamentally see ourselves.
A decade ago, living in a city and feeling exhausted and empty, Craig decided to return to his birthplace – the Cape of Good Hope – and dive into the great African Sea forest each day. His daily oceanic adventures not only helped him “rewild”, but helped him come to see his own “amphibious soul” as a powerful metaphor for the human condition. We homo sapiens are by nature wild animals attempting to exist in a docile world. So how can we reclaim our wildness in a world that wants us to stay so tamed?
An extraordinary literary work, Amphibious Soul is a riveting narrative filled with meticulous descriptions of an adventure in the natural world that speaks to readers on an intimate level, challenging us to consider our personal relationship to nature, and inspiring us to realign our daily practices to help save the global ecosystem. Whether we live close to nature or in an urban jungle, Craig shows us how to nurture our individual wildness, tap into our empathy, and deepen our love for all living things. He teaches us to track the wild around us, and by doing so become present in the moment and revel in being wondrously alive.
Featuring breathtaking original photos and QR codes that access mini-videos of never-seen-before animal interactions, Amphibious Soul is a remarkable experience that will transform us and ultimately our world.
“Amphibious Soul is an important book. . . . This book isn't about learning how to be wild but rather a guide to recognizing and reconnecting with the wild in and around us. It is a book that will inspire hope.” – Jane Goodall
"Craig Foster has spent every day in the ocean for years, tracking underwater animals and finding a deep sense of wildness. Amphibious Soul is about connecting to our humanity in the heart of the world, at the tip of Africa. This book will guide you to find your own wild heart wherever you might live." – James Cameron
"Craig Foster’s unique perspective on the natural world is rooted in history, intimate experience, and a deep understanding of the importance of creating our own personal relationship with nature." – Christiana Figueres, Architect of the Paris Climate Agreement, Author of The Future We Choose
Craig Foster is one of the world’s leading natural history filmmakers and co-founder of the Sea Change Project. He won the Academy Award for Best Documentary for My Octopus Teacher, and has created over 100 films and documentaries in addition to his photography. He lives in South Africa.
"Imagine the impact made by one man, one octopus, one year, one film, one Oscar and now one book: Amphibious Soul! Foster succeeds as a master storyteller, artist, and filmmaker but his greatest contribution may be his approach to life- among people as well as part of the magnificent multitudes of swimming, flying, crawling, climbing, diving creatures who, if asked, would likely say that Earth is their home as much as it is ours" –
Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer, Founder of Mission Blue, Ocean Elder, Former NOAA Chief Scientist
Published by Thorsons, 23rd May 2024, available at Amazon.co.uk
BURNING INJUSTICE: Latino Activists Battle to Shut Down California's Toxic Incinerator
Burning Injustice is a powerful 15-minute short documentary that follows the inspiring journey of Latino activists, John Mataka and Bianca Lopez, as they expose the toxic pollution and devastating health consequences of one of the last trash incinerators in California in an effort to close the facility once and for all.
Through their unwavering determination, they call for environmental justice and a safer future for their community and loved ones.
The Story of Stuff Project is transforming the way we make, use and throw away Stuff to put people and the planet over profit. Visit: storyofstuff.org
BRISTOL named WINNER, CITY OF FILM, 2024 Global Production Awards, Screen International
We are the sum of all our parts - from the talented companies and individuals making the highest quality content viewed across the globe, to the festivals and venues continually enlightening and inspiring audiences. From the dedicated educators and mentors bringing forward the next wave of creative talent, to the incredible facilities & crew making filming happen in the city.
It's all of this and more that makes Bristol a world-class UNESCO centre for film and the moving image.
If you're proud to be Bristol-based, give this a share ...
BBC Greenlights ‘Evolution’ With Chris Packham & Reveals It Has Doubled Its Number Of Blue-Chip Science Shows Per Year
The BBC has tied with PBS on a Chris Packham-fronted series about evolution, as the corporation reveals it has doubled its number of blue-chip science shows.
Evolution will tell the story of the millions of generations that gave rise to animals today, tracking one animal per episode. Species in focus will range from the bat, whose ultrasonic hearing makes it one of the deadliest hunters on the planet, to the peacock and its magnificent feathers, to the kangaroo, which owes its impressive leaping not to its legs but to its teeth.
Packham, who also hosted last year’s Earth for the BBC, will take viewers back in time to chart evolution utilizing advances in genetic analysis and CGI.
“This is new, shiny and immediately accessible,” BBC Head of Science Tom Coveney told Deadline. “It’s full of animal-based facts but also because there are millions and millions of species it gives the opportunity for endless variety, twists and turns. So it is accessible but blue-chip.”
With David Attenborough slowing down a tad, Coveney celebrated Packham as a “leading natural history and science presenter” for the BBC, whose communication skills plus zoology background make him the perfect fit for an evolution show. Evolution will stick to science, avoiding the Darwinian theory’s role in religion that has at times made it a controversial topic, Coveney added.
The BBC’s head of natural history Sreya Biswas recently branded that genre “saturated” and beset by “huge” production costs. But, having recently brought back Walking with Dinosaurs, Coveney said BBC science is full steam ahead and has in fact doubled its number of blue chips of late to around one per year. Earth aired last year, Solar System with Brian Cox will premiere later in 2024, Human fronted by presenter Ella Al-Shamahi is slated for 2025 and Evolution should arrive on small screens in 2026. .
Wildscreen Festival, the biggest global gathering of natural world storytellers, is back.
We’re excited to return to the heart of Bristol for a unique hybrid event.
We expect to be welcoming more delegates in 2024 than ever before, so join our community for a jam-packed programme of headliners, panels, exclusive film screenings and face-to-face networking between 14-18 October.
First wave of speakers and sessions announced for WildPhotos 2024
Wildscreen and Wildlife Photographer of the Year have announced its first wave of speakers and sessions WildPhotos. The one-day event, taking place on Sunday 13th October in Bristol, UK, will span headliners, panels and lighting talk sessions, featuring a world-class line-up of wildlife photographers.
Charlie Hamilton James is announced as Headliner. The world renowned National Geographic photographer, filmmaker and author, will share his latest project “End Times” which explores his evolution from photojournalism into an artistic exploration of global environmental collapse and how we consume information about the natural world.
Chinese director Lu Chuan's latest documentary on wildlife protection and rescue shows how artificial intelligence-powered personal computers can engage in and benefit content creators, according to industry insiders.
Premiering at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival last month, the documentary Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wildlife Park is the latest such effort of Lu, whose works include Kekexili: Mountain Patrol (2004) and Born in China (2016).
The latest documentary allowed the in-depth involvement of AI solutions throughout its production by Lenovo Group, the world's largest personal computer maker by shipments.
The Chinese name of the documentary, Xiye, is an abbreviation of xining yesheng dongwuyuan, or Xining Wildlife Park in Xining, Qinghai province. It offers insights into the park's efforts in rescuing and breeding wildlife.
"With the help of Lenovo's AI PCs, the film's production efficiency has been greatly enhanced," Lu says, adding that the audio, video and image generation has become easier and the whole production process runs more swiftly at a lower cost.
New Team Sayari Episode Now Available on YouTube – Wildlife Direct
Animals can display incredible levels of intelligence in their quest to either find food, or escape predators ... This is explored in Wildlife Directs' latest Team Sayari episode.
They say "We are so proud to inform you that our new Kids series, Team Sayari is available on the National Geographic Africa YouTube Channel. It is a collaboration between USAID, the US Department of State, and The Walt Disney Company with WildlifeDirect. It was produced by White Rhino Films for National Geographic. It was shot in 5 African countries and is the first children's wildlife series produced in Africa. The series is presented by children and this month we spotlight “Most Intelligent” - featuring octopus, dolphins, baboons, and giant rats!"
While mangrove forests are depleting globally, and India does not have a different story, its importance here has not been highlighted enough.
To counter the same, wildlife filmmaker Rohit Varma is set to release his short film ‘The Last Frontier’ on July 26 – celebrated as the ‘International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem’.
“All of us have witnessed cyclones and subsequent destruction in urban landscapes, especially in regions where mangroves have depleted,” he says, adding, “The forests make up the last barrier between the sea and land. Removing these barriers for construction activities will majorly impact people who stay close to the sea.”
The filmmaker, who approached veteran actor Shabana Azmi to lend her voice to the film and the mangroves, says the decision to humanize mangrove forests was a conscious call. “And to do so, we needed an impactful voice.”
Even as the number of documentaries made on the environment in the West outshines Indian productions, he says it would be unfair to say that Indian filmmakers are not focusing on environmental issues and that many films feature these issues in India too.
“I agree that not many mainstream films spotlight environmental issues. That is probably because they are committed to the commercial angle and the former kind of films will always garner a limited number of viewers,” Varma adds.
Mangrove Photography Awards 2024 Winners Announced
Meet the winners of the Mangrove Photography Awards 2024
... Explore the 52 winning shots from the landmark 10th edition. Purification rituals, climate refugees, SpaceX, and orange lagoons - these are just some of this year's powerful images.
Following weeks of deliberation, we’re excited to reveal the winners of the 10th Mangrove Photography Awards, hosted by Mangrove Action Project.
Today, less than half the world’s original mangrove forest cover remains, and it has never been more important to promote the conservation of these fragile ecosystems. The Mangrove Photography Awards is a vital platform for creatives to captivate our imagination and spark action.
Every year, we’re inspired by the incredible submissions, which help raise awareness of the people and wildlife that rely on mangrove forests, the threats they face, and why urgent action is needed to protect them.
This year’s awards saw a record-breaking 2,500 entries from 74 nations, showcasing the beauty and global significance of mangrove ecosystems around the world.
In the end, it was India’s Supratim Bhattacharjee who captured the judge’s attention with his powerful photo of a young girl in the aftermath of a devastating storm.
In addition, winners have been selected in 6 categories – People, Landscape, Underwater, Threats, Wildlife, and Stories (a portfolio category) – while photographers under the age of 24 competed to become the Young Mangrove Photographer of the Year.
The photos are a compelling reminder of the importance of mangroves for the diversity of life across our coastlines as photographers captured unique relationships and moments from mangrove ecosystems both above and below the water line. They’re also a stark reminder of our need to protect these unique and precious ecosystems.
Selecting our finalists was no mean feat, even for our international panel of judges. This year conservation photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee, wildlife photojournalist Morgan Heim, and photojournalist Christian Ziegler made up our expert jury.
“I was particularly drawn to the Wildlife and Portfolio selections. There were many fascinating stories about life in the mangroves, ranging from scientific insights to restoration of the ecosystem and the difficult conditions people face.” Christian said.
A Real Bug’s Life is among the most ambitious and innovative natural history series ever made. Over nine episodes the Disney+ docu series uses the latest technology to shine a light on the unseen spectacles of the micro-world.
“Capturing scenes in the film relies heavily on two things,” explains Robert Hollingworth, one of the show’s cinematographers. “The incredible skill of entomologists and animal experts and the precision technology used to scale down the glossy dramatic camera techniques into the world where a blade of grass is a skyscraper.”
Filming for the episode The Busy Farm took place early 2021 to the end of 2022 on location in the UK and in controlled environments to capture everything from the smallest aphid to the widest establishing shots.
It’s a massive project with many suppliers with VMI providing much of the production’s camera and lens kit plus accessories.
“VMI is our go-to supplier,” says Hollingworth. VMI Bristol is close to Plimsoll Productions [the specialist factual producer behind the series] while Haddenham Studios, which is owned by Hollingworth and used for the production, is in Aylesbury.
“Filming insects requires some very specialist kit which VMI have and they also have a lot of expertise when it comes to putting together packages for natural history programming,” he says.
Setting the look and feel for The Busy Farm was key at the outset and involved testing and selecting a lens kit to work from, and also a LUT for the day and night scenes.
The episode was shot on a combination of RED Gemini and Phantom VEO cameras which are commonly used for capturing superfast action at 1000fps.
“With insects you can’t necessarily tell what frame rate it was shot at,” Hollingworth says. “It’s not unusual to shoot 75fps as your base rate which would appear normal to the viewer so its use is more frequent than you might think. Just visually it helps them to see movement without having to go the extremes of super slow motion.”
Also read SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT RENTAL HOUSE – 2023 was hard, 2024 is proving to be equally hard and independent rental companies are finding it very tough.
Renting from VMI means much more than just renting equipment —it means investing in your community, supporting sustainability, and empowering the next generation.
VMI is more than a solution; you have a partner committed to local values, environmental responsibility, and fostering youth development.
Plus, being independent ensures our focus remains squarely on your needs and improving our shared environment. AND OF COURSE, WE WILL PRICE-MATCH ANY QUOTE.*
Without local site power or polluting generators, until now, your options were limited.
Either you could use portable battery stations with limited capacity or expensive, heavy systems, (some were so large, that they were built into a trailer). However a new cost-effective modular and scalable option now exists, which uses small, portable battery power stations connected to a hotswap device featuring an auto changeover feature to offer uninterrupted power across multiple batteries to extend their performance.
The 240V AC Power Station
Consider these as having a mains socket in the field, enabling the powering of video villages and high-power lighting but instead of using a generator, you use a large battery that you can carry. This marked a significant leap in convenience and efficiency for film and video production crews, as one battery could now deliver up to 3.6KW of sustained power from a single location power station battery.
Whereas none of our conventional batteries were able to supply sufficient power to light an Aputure or Nanlight 1200, a power station battery like an Instagrid One or EcoFlow Delta was now able to power it for 2-3 hours on full power. Impressive.
That’s great, providing you only need a powerful light for perhaps 2-3 hours but what if you need more than this?
Instagrid LINK Solution
For these applications, VMI stock the new Instagrid LINK, which allows up to 3 x Instagrid 2.1KWh Instagrid AC batteries to be connected and work together to effectively create a single 6.3KWh battery in order to create a new ‘virtual’ 6.3KWh mega AC battery small enough to wheel around on a regular film trolley.
This allows up to 3 x 2.1KWh Instagrid AC batteries to be connected and work together to create a new ‘virtual’ 6.3KWh mega battery capable of 3.6KW output, using batteries which individually only weight 20KG.
The combination would weigh 65KG which is small enough to wheel around on a regular film trolley and best of all, you can swap out empty batteries with full ones whilst in use, meaning that the battery capacity is limited only by the number of charged batteries you have brought to location.
3.6KW sustained output.
Continuous power across multiple batteries.
Up to 6.3KWh at any one time and extend this indefinitely by hot swapping additional Instagrid batteries
Best of all, VMI’s electricity is 100% from its own solar 55KW of PV solar panels and topped up from renewables, so all batteries hired from us have zero emissions.
Directed and produced by Matthew Brady through MRB Productions, the film will explore how “rewilding” — a conservation approach that aims to restore natural processes and increase biodiversity by reducing human influence on ecosystems — will ensure that conservation efforts are effective and sustainable.
“This documentary, featuring the powerful narration of Meryl Streep, not only brings the significance of rewilding to light but also highlights that you can’t protect what you don’t love, and you can’t love what you don’t know,” Dr. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane and executive producer of the film, said. “At American Humane, we are profoundly thankful to Meryl for lending her voice to this critical story of survival, inspiring countless others to become advocates for animal welfare.”
Besides her numerous accolades, which, in addition to her Academy Award nods, boast 32 Golden Globe nominations and eight wins, Streep is also a committed advocate for protecting endangered species.
Western Films Acquires Environmental Doc ‘Escape from Extinction Rewilding’
“Escape from Extinction Rewilding” has been acquired by Western Films for U.S. distribution. The indie player made the acquisition in association with American Humane, the United States’ first national humane organization and the world’s largest certifier of animal welfare practices.
Directed and produced by Matthew Brady through his company MRB Productions, the documentary showcases how “rewilding,” an innovative, ground-tested solution, ensures that conservation efforts are effective and sustainable.
According to filmmakers, the documentary “takes you to the brink of extinction, offering a unique glimpse into a world shaped by what scientists and journalists refer to as the ‘Sixth Mass Extinction.’ It vividly brings to life the wildlife experts and conservationists who are rewilding endangered species from the jungles of Africa to the coastlines of California.”
Off The Fence co-pros for two major wildlife shows
Off The Fence is producing two major wildlife co-productions, one of which is fronted by field biologist, wildlife filmmaker and TV presenter Dan O’Neill.
A rising star in natural-history documentary, O’Neill has also been signed to present two further new OTF series.
Wild Talk (5 x 50 mins), co-produced by OTF, its parent company ZDF Studios and ARTE, explores the rapidly evolving science of animal communication — and reveals that many species are just as talkative as human beings. In the new five-part series, leading scientists decode complex animal communication systems with the help of AI, and next-generation sensors and recording technology. The result is an insight into the world of non-human language, from the waggle dance of honeybees to the UV signals emitted by the wings of butterflies.
Wild Talk is executive produced by Debbie Hinnigan and Andrew Zikking for OTF, Petra Boden for ARTE, and Nikolas Hülbusch and Ralf Rückauer for ZDF Studios. The series producer is BAFTA-winning filmmaker Guy Gilbert..
O’Neill, whose hit series Giants, produced by OTF for Curiosity Stream, premiered in May 2023, is front of a second ambitious co-production: Zombie Animals (2 x 60 mins), brought to life by OTF Studios and National Geographic International.
The two-part documentary, which is set to transmit on Nat Geo Wild in the run-up to Halloween, examines the gruesome world of animal hosts and their invaders — the alien parasites, viruses and freaky fungi that cause their unfortunate victims to act like zombie slaves. The two-parter combines blue-chip and UGC archive material, dynamic graphics and on-location footage with O’Neill’s signature storytelling.
Zombie Animals is executive produced by Andrew Zikking for OTF, and Sarah Peat for NGCI. The series producer is Aaron Paul.
Two other O’Neill-fronted projects are also in OTF’s production pipeline: Snow Leopards with Dan O’Neill (2 x 50 mins) and a second series of Nature’s Ultimate Survivors (5 x 60 mins)
In the former, the first openly LGBT wildlife presenter returns to the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia to gather new information about the elusive ‘Ghosts of the Mountains’. The cinematic two-part documentary, co-produced by OTF and wildlife and nature brand Love Nature, follows O’Neill — the Snow Leopard Trust’s only ‘explorer in residence’ — to two remote locations: Kyrgyzstan’s Tian Shan mountains, home to the highest density of snow leopards on the planet, and the Tost mountains of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, where entry is forbidden unless permitted by the Snow Leopard Trust.
BBC Studios announces series two commission of Big Cats 24/7 ahead of series one debut
BBC Studios Natural History Unit announces the eagerly anticipated series Big Cats 24/7 has been commissioned for Series Two for BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and PBS and is in production.
"Big Cats 24/7 is a thrilling series following amazing animal behaviour. I’m really excited to commission a second series so we can dive straight back in and continue telling the incredible stories of the lions, leopards and cheetahs.”
— Sreya Biswas, BBC Head of Commissioning, Natural History
Big Cats 24/7 will launch on the BBC in August this year and PBS in September. It follows the lives of lions, cheetahs and leopards in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, a place described as one of Africa’s last wildernesses. With extraordinary, unparalleled access in a rarely visited area and the opportunity to film from the ground, the air and through the night, the Big Cat 24/7 team work together to follow the cats’ lives around the clock.
Following on from this series two, which will be broadcast in 2025, will continue to follow the stars featured in the first series, as well as introducing some new faces, allowing viewers a front row seat as the team document the lives of these beloved big cats.
Sreya Biswas, BBC Head of Commissioning, Natural History says “Big Cats 24/ 7 is a thrilling series following amazing animal behaviour, with great on-screen talent and set in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Being able to follow the cats for long periods of time has been a unique opportunity and so I’m really excited to commission a second series so we can dive straight back in and continue telling the incredible stories of the lions, leopards and cheetahs.”
Tom Jarvis, Executive Producer says “It’s thrilling to be jumping right back into the dramatic lives of the big cats we have grown to love. What I’m most excited about in this series is that we are able to tell longitudinal and personal stories about the animals we are embedded with, and it feels like you are given a unique window into their world.”
Big Cats 24/7, a 6×60’ for BBC Two, iPlayer and PBS is made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit and co-produced by PBS, with BBC Studios handling global distribution. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Executive Producer is Tom Jarvis, the Series Producer is Rowan Crawford and the Production Manager is Gillian Goodlet. The Commissioning Editor is Head of Natural History Sreya Biswas. Diana El-Osta is the Executive in Charge for PBS.
Documentary 'Wilding' sells to major territories, crosses £500,000 in UK-Ireland
Nature documentary Wilding has signed distribution deals for key territories, with the film crossing the £500,000 mark in the UK-Ireland as the highest-grossing documentary of 2024.
MetFilm Sales has sold the film to France (Jupiter), Italy (Wanted), Germany, Austria, Switzerland (Polyband), Spain (Festival Films), Australia-New Zealand (Madman) and Scandinavia-Baltics (Nonstop Entertainment). All territories are planning theatrical releases from Q4 2024 onwards, while negotiations continue in other key territories.
Wilding crossed £500,000 at the UK-Ireland box office yesterday (Tuesday, July 30), having been released on June 14 by MetFilm Distribution. It will continue to play theatrically in the territory across the summer.
Directed by David Allen and produced by Gaby Bastyra, the film is based on Isabella Tree’s book of the same name. It tells the story of a couple who turn to nature to save their failing, 400-year-old estate, by setting the land back to the wild – a process called ‘rewilding’. The film is produced by Passion Planet, the human- and environment-focused division of the UK’s Passion Pictures; and US company HHMI Tangled Bank Studio.
HBO sets four-part doc “Chimp Crazy” from “Tiger King” director
The four-part HBO Original documentary series Chimp Crazy, produced and directed by Tiger King helmer Eric Goode, is set to premiere on August 18, and will also be available to stream on Max.
The series recounts the story of Tonia Haddix (pictured) — a nurse-turned-exotic animal broker who bills herself as “the Dolly Parton of chimps” — who cares for seven captive chimps bred as talent for commercials and movies. Her bond with one particular chimp, Tonka, leads to a series of events that includes Tonka going missing, Haddix facing a lawsuit from PETA, and a years-long saga involving Haddix’s family, the authorities, an undercover clown, and actor Alan Cumming, who starred with Tonka in the 1997 film Buddy.
Through the “chimp mom” experiences of Haddix and others, the docuseries explores the bonds that form between owners and their highly intelligent great ape pets, and reveals the risks humans take when they try to raise these animals as members of their family, as well as the risks to animals themselves.
Chimp Crazy is an HBO Documentary Films presentation of a Goode Films production. The producers are Lissa Rivera, Evan Wise, Tim Moran, Adrienne Gits, Charles Divak, Doug Abel, James Liu, Carissa Ridgeway and Dwayne Cunningham. Jeremy McBride and Eric Goode are executive producers. For HBO, the executive producers are Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Tina Nguyen.
In a collaboration with Arrow Media, Little Shadow took on the ambitious task of creating the visual effects for “Shark Attack 360,” an 8-part series for Sharkfest 2024.
This series, lead by acclaimed marine biologist, Diva Amon dives deep into the world of shark bites, with her team of specialists, investigating and unravelling the mysteries behind the creatures.
Setting the Stage: The Vision and Approach
The clear directive from Executive Producer Nick Metcalfe and Series Producer Laura Offer was to enhance the ‘360’ Lab’, making it larger, more immersive, and filled with dynamic shark encounters. With this vision in mind, Little Shadow utilised their hybrid Virtual Production (VP) technology to craft sequences that would elevate the visual impact beyond that of the previous series.
The emphasis was on ensuring that the sharks looked breathtaking, but credible, both in terms of anatomical accuracy and movement. Collaborating closely with shark expert Stephen M. Kajiura, the team created a variety of anatomically correct sharks, complete with detailed internal anatomy. The VFX team developed advanced animation rigs to control muscle movement and soft body dynamics, resulting in lifelike swimming, turning, reacting, and attacking motions.
Innovation in Interaction: Introducing C.O.R.A.L.
As the project progressed, the need for a novel way to interact with data in the lab became apparent. Enter C.O.R.A.L. (Computational Oceanic Research and Analysis Logic), an AI system conceptualized by Little Shadow. This system, capable of accessing and analysing global data and examining shark anatomy, played a crucial role in the shot planning process. It allowed Diva, to interact with the environment and the sharks seamlessly throughout the series.
“Defenders of the Hidden” starring superstar Wang Yibo calls on the public to protect pangolins
Conservation Association (CWCA), and Youku premiered the documentary series “Defenders of the Hidden”, which showcases efforts across China to conserve pangolins. The two-part docuseries is a firsthand look at the threats to pangolins, along with the rescue and protection work from both Chinese officials and civilians.
“Defenders of the Hidden” follows actor and WildAid ambassador Wang Yibo’s journey in search of the Chinese pangolin. Through the real-life stories from scientists, forest rangers, community residents, conservation organizations, and science education workers he meets along the way, the audience learns of the efforts, challenges, and achievements of these ordinary heroes seeking to save the Chinese pangolin. With this docuseries, WildAid and CWCA hope to increase public awareness and understanding of pangolin conservation as well as create an emotional connection to the species, ultimately leading to a brighter future for Chinese pangolins.
The Chinese pangolin was once widely found in the southern region of the Yangtze River, but due to excessive hunting and habitat destruction, the population has decreased by 80% over the past 20 years and in 2014 was listed as “critically endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Although the species’ situation is currently grave, there is still hope for recovery.
WildAid is a non-profit organization with a mission to protect wildlife from illegal trade and other imminent threats. While most wildlife conservation groups focus on protecting animals from poaching, WildAid primarily works to reduce global consumption of wildlife products such as elephant ivory, rhino horn and shark fin soup. With an unrivaled portfolio of celebrity ambassadors and a global network of media partners, WildAid leverages more than $308 million in annual pro-bono media support with a simple message: When the Buying Stops, the Killing Can Too.
On 3 July 2024, the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, attended by celebrities, royalty and over 300,000 spectators, became the scene of a bold Viva! protest. A Viva! campaigner, dressed as a chef and holding carving forks, revealed a realistic model of a dog being roasted on a spit alongside a banner reading "The Great Dog Roast". This shocking display launched Viva!’s latest campaign: Are You an Animal Lover?
In the UK, where nearly 60 per cent of homes are now believed to have a cat or dog, companion animals have undoubtedly won their favour as cherished family members. Yet the cognitive dissonance persists – we raise and slaughter 1.2 billion land animals each year, almost all of whom have been proven to exhibit a remarkable capacity for deep emotional bonds and suffering, just like our beloved moggies and pooches.
It's time to face the facts: there’s no excuse to eat one and love the other. Learn more and find out how you can get involved: viva.org.uk/action-animal-lover
How Factory Farming Ends
The fight against the meat industry has been rocky. Can it be won?
What if we told you that there is a simple way for humanity to slash climate-warming emissions, help prevent the next pandemic, and simultaneously eradicate one of the most significant moral atrocities of our time — one that nearly all of us bear some responsibility for?
We’re talking, of course, about factory farming. In 2024, it’s hardly a secret that the billions of animals raised for food are treated abysmally. They are, to name just a few standard industry practices, caged, mutilated without pain relief, and intensively bred to the point that they live in chronic pain and even struggle to stand up, before being slaughtered, often painfully.
The sheer scale of this system defies comprehension. Every year, humans kill 80 billion land animals — 10 times more than there are people on Earth — and an even larger, poorly tracked number of fish.
Yet factory farming is only expanding its reach around the globe, despite decades of animal advocacy striving to stop it, because it’s the most efficient way to produce lots of meat for a world of 8 billion people.
We think there’s a better way. This week, Future Perfect is publishing How Factory Farming Ends, a package of stories on the past and future of the movement against factory farming; its struggle to change our culture, politics, and palates; and how it might yet make real progress. This series is supported by Animal Charity Evaluators, which received a grant from Builders Initiative.
Some stories delve into the animal rights movement’s fraught relationship with the climate and public health communities, and the prospects for building meaningful coalitions. Others scrutinize the animal rights movement from its 19th-century glory days, when vegetarianism was popular among utopian social reformers, to its present-day alienation from other progressive causes, to the messy, often maddening but essential legacy of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
"Our hope is that these stories will challenge policy leaders and the broader public to imagine a kinder, saner, truly sustainable food system." — Marina Bolotnikova, deputy editor, Future Perfect
Groundbreaking Documentary ‘They’re Trying To Kill Us’ Exposes The Link Between Diet And Racism
The hugely anticipated film is now available to watch online for free!
While growing up in Ferguson, Missouri, John Lewis and his family lived on a diet high in animal protein and processed food. But after his mother was diagnosed with colon cancer almost two decades ago, he started a journey that led him to become a staunch and vocal advocate for the vegan lifestyle. Lewis’ groundbreaking documentary, They’re Trying To Kill Us, which explores structural racism within the US food system, is now available to watch for free online.
The film is executively produced by NBA star Chris Paul and singer Billie Eilish. It looks at how people of color are disproportionately affected by high rates of chronic disease and premature death. This, the film says, is because of the racist design of the food system, and did not happen by accident. Lewis – known as “Badass Vegan” on social media – features as a protagonist and narrator of the film, traveling around the US uncovering the intersection of race and diet. Throughout the documentary, he makes eye-opening discoveries about the health disparities affecting minorities in the country.
“It’s a film about food injustice and social justice through the lens of Hip Hop,” Lewis previously said in an interview. “People have been beat down for so long that they believe that most of the health problems that we suffer from are hereditary and not a choice of what we actually eat.”
Misinformation to Demonize Vegan Food Exposed in New Report
A new report by the Freedom Food Alliance exposes a campaign of misinformation, run by the animal agriculture industry, aiming to demonize vegan food...
The noticeable rise of veganism in the last few decades has triggered a response, a highly organized misinformation campaign by the animal agriculture industry aimed at stopping the plant-based movement in its tracks. So argues a new, 100+ page report that warns, “There is a multi-million dollar effort by industry and their allies to slow down the shift from animal-sourced foods to plant-based ones, despite a growing scientific consensus highlighting the environmental and public health imperatives.”
Using propaganda, disinformation, and misinformation, the industry campaign has achieved significant success in demonizing alternatives proteins, particularly veggie burgers and plant-based chicken alternatives by denigrating vegan meat replacements as “processed” or “ultra-processed” while ignoring the fact that processed meat has been declared to be cancer-causing by the World Health Organization. The Cancer Council notes, “The World Health Organization has classified processed meats including ham, bacon, salami and frankfurts as a Group 1 carcinogen (known to cause cancer) which means that there’s strong evidence that processed meats cause cancer. Eating processed meat increases your risk of bowel and stomach cancer. Red meat, such as beef, lamb and pork, has been classified as a Group 2A carcinogen which means it probably causes cancer.” Nevertheless, uncritical acceptance by many mainstream reporters and social media influencers of unfairly alarmist warnings about processed, plant-based foods has allowed this canard to gain significant traction, negatively impacting the plant-based food sector.
The Vegan Cavalry Has Arrived!
Now, the vegan movement is finally fighting back with the creation of the Freedom Food Alliance. The group’s mission is to expose misinformation about veganism and vegan food. Led by renowned digital media expert Robbie Lockie, this new group, based in the UK, just released this detailed report exposing the meat industry’s propaganda machine. UnchainedTV’s Jane Velez-Mitchell interviewed Lockie and you can watch the entire conversation here.
Exposing Misinformation
Robbie Lockie is a digital media expert and food transparency campaigner with over 20 years of experience in user experience design, web development, and video production. Besides being the founder and CEO of The Freedom Food Alliance, Lockie is also a co-founder and former director of Plant Based News. Lockie is also a strategic advisor and media ambassador for the Plant Based Treaty, a landmark international treaty that puts food systems at the heart of combating the climate crisis. Lockie explains what inspired them to create the new group.
“Over the last decade, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the volume of misleading information that we see on social media, the mainstream media and outdoor media through advertising. The industry has become increasingly effective at using digital advertising and mainstream media to pedal a specific narrative, mostly a false narrative, about plant-based diets, plant-based meats, the vegan lifestyle, vegan activism, and activists themselves. They’re using every trick in the book to try to push back against what is a global movement of people.”
The Freedom Food Alliance’s new report is called, “Harvesting Denial, Distractions, & Deception: Understanding Animal Agriculture’s Disinformation Strategies and Exploring Solutions.” Here is how Lockie summarizes it:
“This report is a deep dive, known as our foundation report, which we did with the amazing scientist Nicholas Carter. He is the lead author and environmental scientist on this project, currently working for the Game Changers Institute. His focus with this report was really to expose some of the biggest players in these misinformation and disinformation campaigns, to try to help people understand just how insidious they are, and the effect that it has throughout society.”
Building Muscle on a Vegan Diet: Expert Advice from Dr. Matthew Nagra
In this interview with Dr. Matthew Nagra, a plant-based naturopathic doctor, we explore his journey into plant-based nutrition, sparked by personal health challenges and a desire to integrate lifestyle-based nutritional interventions with medical treatments.
What you can expect:
Personal Journey: Dr. Nagra discusses his transition to plant-based eating due to health issues like asthma and allergies, and how dietary changes dramatically improved his condition.
Professional Insights: Learn about the gap between conventional medical treatments and nutritional interventions and how Dr. Nagra navigates these challenges in his practice.
Debunking Myths: Dr. Nagra addresses common misconceptions about plant-based proteins' bioavailability and completeness, providing scientific clarity to popular dietary myths.
Nutritional Advice: Tips on building muscle and maintaining health on a plant-based diet, especially for those with specific health concerns like diabetes.
Challenges in Nutrition: The conversation also touches on the difficulties posed by widespread misinformation online, where anyone with a social media account might pose as a nutrition expert.
Eating Our Way To Extinction - Essential Facts (35mins) Documentary
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Narrated by Kate Winslet, this condensed version of ‘Eating Our Way to Extinction,’ addresses in a more concise manner the 'elephant in the room' that no one wants to talk about...animal agriculture! Will we be the next species on the path toward extinction?
"Eating Our Way to Extinction - The Essential Facts", condenses the original full cinematic film version into a powerful 35 minutes of evidence-based facts and information that were liked and recommended by most viewers. This powerful documentary sends a simple but impactful message by uncovering hard truths and addressing, the most pressing issue of our generation – ecological collapse.
On this channel, you will have access to a variety of different content, including the documentary itself as well as many videos and interviews addressing this pressing issue.
Want to learn more? Subscribe to our channel and make sure to turn your post notifications on so you don’t miss out on any of our content: youtube.com/channel/UCYNldGFnfcDE8ItayYf7izg
Earthlings, the Iconic Documentary that Made Vegans All Over the World
Discover how Earthlings became the groundbreaking film that inspired a global vegan movement
In 2005, viewers around the world were introduced to Earthlings, a documentary that would forever change the way they viewed their relationship with animals. Narrated by Joaquin Phoenix and featuring a haunting score by Moby, Earthlings delves deep into the hidden realities of animal exploitation across various industries, from factory farming to scientific research. This powerful film exposed the cruel practices behind closed doors and sparked a worldwide movement toward veganism and compassionate living.
Earthlings uses hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage — much of it graphic — to reveal the suffering endured by animals in factory farms, pet stores, puppy mills, and other industries. Directed by Shaun Monson and executive produced by Libra Max, the documentary exposes the suffering animal exploitation industries inflict on trillions of sentient beings and the profound consequences of our everyday choices on countless animals’ lives.
Shaun Monson, the visionary behind the film, initially began filming in 1999 to provide public service announcements on the importance of spaying and neutering pets. However, the disturbing footage he captured led him to create a comprehensive documentary. “Joaquin’s narration for Earthlings was recorded four times,” Monson recalls, emphasizing the dedication and emotional depth required to bring the film to life.
By the end of the film, viewers gain a deeper understanding of the urgent need to change the way we treat nonhuman animals. There have been many vegan documentaries since Earthlings premiered almost two decades ago, but – perhaps – no other film has turned more people vegan than this groundbreaking masterpiece.
EARTHLINGS is a 2005 American documentary film about humankind's total dependence on animals for economic purposes. Presented in five chapters (pets, food, clothing, entertainment and scientific research) the film is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, featuring music by Moby, and was written, produced and directed by Shaun Monson.
July's Hottest Day Ever Recorded, Rancher Fined $50M for Amazon Damage & more | Month in a Minute
The July 2024 edition of Sentient Media's popular Month in a Minute series is here! Watch their 60-second recap of the top stories in animals, food and farming.
July sees the world’s hottest ever recorded day, due to the carbon pollution spewed from burning fossils and farming livestock
A Brazilian cattle rancher is ordered to pay $50m for damage to the Amazon in the largest civil case brought for climate crimes in Brazil to date
Meanwhile wild sharks off the coast of Brazil have tested positive for cocaine, scientists say, after dissecting the bodies of 13 sharpnose sharks caught in fishermen’s nets
California’s factory farms are perilously close to your produce, a report finds, with a worrying 93 percent located within a mile of a water source for irrigating fresh produce
Butter made from CO2 instead of cows tastes like ‘the real thing’, claims Bill Gates-backed startup Savor, as Britain approves Lab-Grown Meat for pet food, a first for Europe
Hens appear to blush when scared or excited, researchers find
Australia votes to end live sheep exports by 2028
And psychologist Jordan Peterson draws ridicule for suggesting to Elon Musk that a carnivore diet will fix his back injuries.
Would you like to participate in a "first of its kind" festival in Türkiye?
We set out to organize a brand new festival to attract national and international attention to Anatolia's wildlife, contribute to nature conservation efforts and support the development of wildlife documentary filmmaking.
The first of the Ankara International Wildlife Documentary Film Festival will take place in the capital city of Ankara between May 15 - 18, 2025. Over four days, we will present a rich program filled with documentary film screenings, Q&A sessions with filmmakers, workshops, and seminars.
The festival, where wildlife filmmakers from different countries will have the chance to meet with the Turkish audience and filmmakers, will also host a competition.
Submissions to the festival opened on July 1st, 2024 through filmfreeway.com! We invite all wildlife filmmakers from Türkiye and across the globe to submit their films to the festival.
We look forward to welcoming you to our soon-to-be-launched website…
Festival Founder and President,
Ece Soydam
Highly endowed awards await the winning films in six categories:
Best European Film: Wildlife
Best European Film: Biodiversity
Best European Film: Nature Conservation
Audience Award
Best Story
Best Short Film
The first award ceremony will take place February 15th 2025.
All selected films will screen at the EWFA´s very own theatre in the ´Botschaft der Wildtiere´ (Wildlife Embassy) in Hamburg HafenCity over the course of the following year.
Our course is hosted by
industry professionals including
experienced naturalists, trackers, impact producers, cinematographers and natural
history editors to help you create your own story.
What’s included:
6 weeks of immersive training;
Live in the Timbavati Big 5 Game
Reserve;
Daily safaris to ethically film wildlife;
Use industry standard film equipment;
Small groups of up to maximum 8
participants;
Dedicated 1-2-1 mentoring;
A panoramic teaching style with expert
mentors;
Learn basic tracking skills and insights into animal behaviour;
Build your own showreel and wildlife documentary short;
As a full member of the site, you get a listing in all appropriate sections, a profile page and priority on your news across the site, this newsletter and our social media accounts.
Membership fees help to keep the site going too ... Your support is much-needed! Hoping to relaunch the site this year ... Updated for the new decade ... Will be looking for help from all over the world!!
Since the late 1990s Wildlife-film.com has been the leading source of information for the wildlife filmmaking industry worldwide. For over twenty years the site has been Google's number one ranking site for 'wildlife film' and related searches. Our site is viewed in over 195 countries. Our newsletter, Wildlife Film News, is read every month by thousands of people involved in wildlife filmmaking - from broadcasters and producers, to cameramen - we encourage readers to submit their news. We also serve as an online resource for industry professionals and services. Find producers, editors, presenters and more in our Freelancer section, and find out about festivals, training and conservation in Organisations. We encourage amateur and professional freelancers to join our network and welcome all wildlife-film related organisations to join our team.
