The 13th Japan Wildlife Film Festival was held from the 2nd to 3rd of April 2018 in Tokyo Women’s Plaza.From 200 films 31 were nominated.
Congratulations to all of the 2017 Winners!
These movies show the struggles in nature and the determination to survive that cannot be observed in everyday life. The emotions they make us feel transcend both borders and speech.
All the lives on our Earth are intertwined, and we only have this one blue planet.
If we can understand this connection, this will
definitely give us strength to pave the way for a future shared by nature, wildlife and human beings.
This film festival has been held every 2 years since 1993. This year commemorates the 13th biennial festival. We believe that it will be a chance to think about the future of our planet. We want to show our planet’s present condition to as many people as possible, with the hope of entrusting a beautiful world to the children who will bear this burden in the next generation.
The theme was “Life, emotion. Connection... " and the purpose of
the festival is:
1. To show people the many shapes of “life” in order to secure a beautiful world for future generations.
2. To convey through images of nature and wildlife, the magnificence of our planet, and spread the awareness of the need to protect the environment.
3. To strengthen the ties between the three main World Wildlife Film Festivals (England’s Wild Screen, America’s Jackson Hole Wild Life Film Festival, Japan’s JWF), and to use films as a medium for education about the global environment.
4. To promote the protection and revitalization of the environment within global society through the collaboration between citizens, governments and corporations.
1. Grand Award – The Last Pig (Directed by Allison Argo, Piggy Films, USA) The Last Pig is a lyrical meditation on what it means to be a sentient creature with the power to kill. For over a decade, Bob Comis has provided a humane—even idyllic—life for the pigs he farms. But as he cares for the pigs, he develops a respect that begins to haunt him; weekly trips to the slaughterhouse become agonizing. With 250 pigs on the farm, Comis suddenly finds himself trapped in a life he can no longer live. Through this immersive and intimate journey, The Last Pig raises crucial questions about equality, the value of compassion and the sanctity of life. Comis’ soul-bearing narrative carries us through his final year of farming pigs, the struggle to reinvent his life, and the ghosts that will haunt him forever.
2. Special Jury – Sheltered in Oak (Directed by Mehdi Noormohammadi, Hiro Film, Iran)
3. Best Animal Behavior – The Great Elephant Gathering of Asia (Ceylon Sights (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka)
The Ispida Wildlife Productions team said "Winning the Best Animal Behaviour award for Returning: Kingfisher at the 13th Japan Wildlife Film Festival was an honour and welcome surprise. We are very proud of the film. The kingfisher is a familiar bird but very few people get to see its intimate life secrets. The hours of dedicated filming, research, observation and crafting paid off. We learned things about these iridescent streaks of blue that cannot be found in books and were are able to show viewers some amazing behaviour. When the team loves their subject, film making is a joy."
5. Best Cinematography – Making an Ancient (Forest Science Vision Filmproduction, Austria)
6. Best Nature and People – Samadhi We Are (One Frama Film Int., Switzerland)
20. Best Presenter – David Attenborough's Light on Earth
(A Terra Mater Factual Studios/Ammonite Films Production, Austria/UK)
Wildlife-film.com congratulates all of the winners, especially members highlighted with links!
NB. The 2017 festival was meant to be held in November last year, but due to construction work delays at the organisations new headquarters which included a mini theater, dates had to be changed to 2018. The next festival will be helpd in October 2019.
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