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MZIMA - HAUNT OF THE RIVERHORSE - 1995

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The fascinating story of Serengeti’s seasonal Grumeti river and its spectacular population of giant crocodiles. The river is a lifeline for an unlikely cast of African animals - all waiting for the annual arrival of the wildebeest migration. Multi-award winner.

BIO

THE QUEEN OF TREES

TALE OF THE TIDES

The story of how hippos bring life to a crystal-clear spring. The film reveals the intricate pyramid of life that a hippo school supports, and the astonishing behaviour that is hidden beneath the calm surface of Mzima spring. Emmy® and Peabody® awards.

MZIMA - HAUNT OF THE RIVERHORSE

THE ELEPHANT QUEEN

The incredible story of how a tiny fish has conquered Lake Tanganyika. How the fish evolved to be able to outwit crocodiles, cormorants, otters and cobras in this ‘Ocean in Africa’ is a remarkable story of convergent evolution. Golden Panda - Wildscreen.

A LITTLE FISH IN DEEP WATER

“This is a masterpiece!” - Sir David Attenborough The amazing story of an African fig tree and its special relationship with a tiny insect. One of the most extraordinary stories in the natural world - a tale of intrigue and drama set in the heart of Africa.

THE TIDES OF KIRAWIRA

CONTACT

The extraordinary story, over a cycle of the tides, of the fortunes of a cast of little-known African animals that use the shore. It is set on the remote storm beaches and mangrove forests of northern Kenya. Multi-award winner.

" With intense emotional twists and incredible photography, it’s no wonder this has been one of the most highly acclaimed and beloved films of the year." Lane Kneedler, AFI Docs programme

MOURICE

HARRY

•

HOW CAN I HELP ELEPHANTS?

MARK

OUTREACH & EDUCATION The film is only the start... The Elephant Queen (TEQ) team have partnered with BESTSELLER ® Foundation and the Kenyan Institute of Curriculum Development to ensure the film has the widest-possible educational impact and enduring environmental legacy in Kenya. Over a period of three years, the O&E initiative will produce: 1. A series of 28 'environmentally-themed' illustrated, reading primers - based on the film's characters. 2. Three TEQ plays for schools - for primary school children to sixth-formers. 3. A touring TEQ roadshow - the film, plays, conversations, school visits, activity packs. 4. A series of residential workshops for conservation educators designed to inspire and collaborate.

The Elephant Queen (TEQ) team have partnered with BESTSELLER ® Foundation and the Kenyan Institute of Curriculum Development to ensure the film has the widest-possible educational impact and enduring environmental legacy in Kenya. Over a period of three years, the O&E initiative will produce….

MBOGO

THE ELEPHANT CRISIS

ELEPHANT ORGANISATIONS These elephant conservation organisations are all fighting for elephants on the ground in Kenya. They differ in their areas of expertise, but all are effective, accountable and united by a common goal. Amboseli Trust for ElephantsBig LifeElephantVoicesElephant Crisis FundMara Elephant ProjectMilgis TrustReteti Elephant SanctuarySave the ElephantsSheldrick Wildlife TrustSpace for GiantsTsavo TrustWildlifeDirectWildlife Works

VICKY

LAURA

Donate through Wildlife Conservation Network, a 501(c) charity that ensures that 100% of your donation goes into the field and makes a difference for elephants on the ground in Kenya. Your donation will help protect Athena's family and other wild elephant families for generations to come.

REVIEWS

Athena is a mother who will do everything in her power to protect her herd when they are forced to leave their waterhole and embark on an epic journey across the African savannah in a tale of love, loss and coming home. Narrated by Chewitel Ejiofor

NORBERT

New York Times - Ken Jaworowski (Critics Choice)Vogue - Kerry McDermottLA Times - Michael OrdoñaElements of Madness - Douglas DavidsonFast Company - Adele PetersHollywood Life - Marissa Charles Common Sense Media - Sandie Angulo Chen The Utah Review - Les Roka Apple Insider - William Gallagher Alliance Of Women Film Journalists

These elephant conservation organisations are all fighting for elephants on the ground in Kenya. They differ in their areas of expertise, but all are effective, accountable and united by a common goal...

MUSILI

THE ELEPHANT QUEEN

ELEPHANT FACTS

KERRY

The number of elephants in Africa has plummeted in little over a century from approximately 10 million to less than half a million today - a decrease of c. 95%. Elephants continue to be illegally killed (poached) for their tusks - modified teeth - made of ivory. In the past ivory was fashioned into piano keys, brush handles...

In Africa, the elephant population has fallen by 95% in just over a century.Approximately 30,000 elephants are poached each year.The illegal trade in ivory is at its highest level in 20 years.A female elephant gives birth to a single calf every 4-5 years.Elephant birth rates are not keeping up with deaths due to poaching.At the present rate of decline, elephants will disappear within the lifetime of our grandchildren.There are only 20-30 giant tuskers left in the world of which almost half (about 12) live in Tsavo.An elephant’s pregnancy lasts 22 months - the longest of any animal.There are two Elephant species in Africa - savannah elephants and forest elephants.Forest elephants are more difficult to census, but numbers are believed to have fallen by 60%.African elephants have lost half their habitat in the last 40 years.Elephants are keystone species - they increase biodiversity, spread tree seeds, open up paths, and create waterholes that benefit other animals.A giant tusker is an elephant that has tusks weighing more than 100 pounds on each side.Females, like Athena, can have tusks that almost reach the ground, but they are more slender than a bull’s and never attain the same weight.Elephants are similar to us in terms of lifespan, empathy, grieving and sentience - but more advanced in senses like smell and hearing.Unlike a rhino’s horn - it is not feasible to cut off an elephant tusks to save it from poaching. Tusks are modified teeth - complete with nerves, like our own.Tusks are important to elephants - they use them for fighting, feeding (removing bark from trees etc) and digging for minerals and making waterholes.It is an urban myth that tusks can be dyed pink to make them unattractive to poachers.If a matriarch is poached, her loss can split the family.Family herds are led by a matriarch - whose role is to care for them all, lead them to food and water and make decisions for the group based on her knowledge and experience - older, wiser females make the best matriarchs.Elephants really do have extraordinary memories - besides remembering their own kind they can recognise and remember human companions even after decades.Elephants communicate by trumpets, rumbles, and touch. They also use infrasound (very low frequencies) that can travel for miles - they produce the sounds in the same way that we sing or hum.Elephants live for up to 70 years.Young male elephants leave their family when they reach puberty in their early teens, and join an all-male herd. Later they might live by themselves, or with a few male companions.Elephants mourn their dead just like humans - often revisiting the skull and bones of dead relatives, just as we might visit the grave of a loved one.Elephants need a lot of space and often migrate to find seasonal sources of food and water. These days, their migration routes are being cut off by farmland, fences, roads and railways.In African elephants, both males and females have tusks. A small percentage of both are genetically tusk-less and this is increasing in some areas due to poaching, as it is such a strong selection pressure. Bullfrogs can survive a year underground without food or waterKillifish eggs can survive for months without water as long as they are damp.Killifish are the fastest maturing vertebrates - from egg to adult in under a month.A chameleon’s tongue can be as long as its body.Foam frogs can survive months in the sun as they have waterproof skin - and the hotter it gets the more pale they become to reflect the sun’s rays.Unusually for reptiles, male Leopard tortoises make grunts and loud wheezing sounds while mating.Terrapins will stalk and lunge at small birds, like quelea, when they come down to drink.Dung-beetles roll their balls in straight lines - using the position of the sun as a reference during the day and navigating by the position of the Milky Way at night.A female Egyptian goose lays one egg a day over 1-2 weeks but doesn’t start to incubate them until she has a full clutch, so they all hatch at the same time and are ready to leave the nest together.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT The Elephant Queen is the result of 8 years work, but really it’s the culmination of a life’s work living in the bush. We had worked together for 25 years in Africa making wildlife films before we felt confident enough to bring something very different to a film about elephants. They had always been tangential to our lives in the bush, but never characters in our films. Over the years we had stored up memories of scenes, experiences and interactions we’d seen, particularly of smaller animals with elephants - but never thought of telling a story about them until we got caught up in a devastating drought in East Africa. Seeing how the elephants reacted, as families, in the face of such adversity made us realise just how like humans they are - the planning, decision making, leadership, empathy, grieving and sentience that they showed were astonishing. But elephants don’t live in isolation - we had unique experience of the relationships that they had with much smaller animals. We were excited about what the combination of an elephant family story, together with the drama of the daily struggles of the creatures that lived at elephant toenail height, could bring to the screen. The cast of the elephants’ tiny neighbours promised to give us scenes of incredible intimacy that would be in contrast to the epic scale of the elephants and their adventures. Our primary aim was to make a story-led film that would take an audience deep into the elephants’ world and, by extension, into the mind of an elephant matriarch. We wanted to show the decisions she had to make, and what it took in terms of leadership for her family to survive and flourish. We didn’t want to make a traditional information-driven documentary, but tell an emotional story, based on what we saw over the four year filming period and what we knew happened - backed up by 25 years of wildlife observation and experience. With The Elephant Queen we wanted audiences to fall in love with elephants - for the simple reason that we need to love before we care, and only if we care are we moved to act. It is a critical time for elephants and they need our care and support more now than they ever have. When it came to story-telling style - our aim was for a film that would combine elements of the Lion King with Shrek and March of the Penguins. A film that would appeal to everyone - a combination of observational live action, combined with the type of humour and visuals that are more commonly associated with animation. If we had a narrative mantra, it would be ‘show, not tell’ - to give the audience the satisfaction of having their own experience. Chiwetel Ejiofor was the perfect voice for the film - not a ‘Voice of God’ rendition, but a soft, story-telling voice - at times empathetic, at others moving the story along. We didn’t want a voice that sat ‘out front’ or led the film, but a voice that bedded in and was soft and sometimes lilting. We were looking for a voice that would never trample on its subject, but coax it along - at times standing back to let the elephants and others speak for themselves, at others to be leaning in and warmly engaging, and we found this in Chiwetel’s voice. The writing was an integral part of the process from the start of filming. At times we knew the lines we wanted to use before filming and they determined the type of shot and sometimes its duration. Possibly the biggest decision we had to make was on naming some of our characters (not something we have done before). In part, this happened because we tended to give them names so as to distinguish one from another when discussing them. When it came to the script, we considered whether it was too anthropomorphic, but we felt that elephants share so many of our human emotions and feelings that not to name them (even scientists now do so), would have been to do them a huge disservice. As for Stephen, well the name just stuck and we couldn’t let it go - we tried a more Swahili name but feedback from a Kenyan test screening was hugely in favour of keeping Stephen as it is a very popular name in Kenya. From the outset we knew that natural sound would be an important part of the story-telling, and to record it we had dedicated sound recordists ( Norbert Rottcher and Pete Cayless) for the four years we spent in the field. After an early demonstration at Wounded Buffalo Sound Studio of Dolby’s new Atmos® we knew that the system would deliver the immersive soundscape we were looking for. It gave us the ability to have up to 128 distinct tracks and pan the sounds across the auditorium in a way that we hadn’t been able to achieve before. So much of elephant communication has an infrasound component - that if you are close to them, you can feel. Somehow, Tim Owens, the film’s sound supervisor, using Dolby Atmos® brought this to life in a way we wouldn’t have thought possible, and the result is completely immersive. We knew from Alex Heffes’ previous scores for The Last King of Scotland, Queen of Katwe and The First Grader that he was highly attuned to African sensibilities and subjects, and that he had the ability to produce both epic melodies, but also work with the smaller more intimate scenes that are so much a part of the film. What we didn’t know was how much he cared about elephants, so it was the perfect fit. His music is at times powerful and dramatic, at others haunting, evocative and restrained but it has a coherence and apparent simplicity that complements the film in a way we could only have dreamt of at the outset. It can be difficult to read animal feelings and intentions, and we wanted to avoid predictable music for animals and sometimes play them ‘against type’. Alex’s score perfectly demonstrates what can emerge when the composer spends enough time immersed in the subject and reads it right. For visual style, the most important word was intimacy - we wanted proximity so the audience would feel they were there - whether at the home waterhole or travelling with Athena’s family. During the pre-journey phase of the film the camera is more static to suggest the concept and tranquility of ‘home’, as a place where it feels good to be still and to dwell. On the journey we try to keep the camera on the move; sometimes accompanying the family, at other moments conjuring the feeling of travelling with the dust-storms or the rolling desperation associated with the drought. Trying to achieve proximity sometimes meant flying up amongst thunder clouds in torrential rain in our light plane, trying to operate the strut-mounted camera with one hand while trying to control the plane with the other. At other times it meant spending months in a cramped steel box, below ground, filming the action at dung-beetle eye level. Wherever we could, we shot the action from the viewpoint of the two worlds - either that of the elephants or the tiny creatures that live in their shadow, at elephant toenail height. Before the project started we had tested RAW cameras and were early adopters of the RED® camera system. We knew the film would take years to shoot and wanted to future-proof the material by shooting in 5/6K - the highest resolution available, which was perfect for 4K display. Cinematographer, Mark Deeble was particularly keen to shoot RAW because of the artistic latitude it would provide in post-production, rather than having the ‘look’ baked in when filming. So much of shooting wildlife under natural conditions is about ‘getting the shot’ and building the sequence and he felt this was where the emphasis should be, rather than be concerned with the ‘look’ in the field. After weeks of testing, prior to filming, he shot the film using a variety of vintage lenses which he felt had a smoother character that matched the timeless story we were telling, and were less clinical than their modern digital equivalents. In editing, the same principle applied. We wanted to make an audience feel they were there, as if they’d experienced at first hand, what we’d filmed. It meant letting shots play out as long as the action warranted it. It involved trying to avoid fast cuts that might help a difficult junction in a sequence, or add a pace that wasn’t naturally there, but would ultimately be less satisfying. Some shots, like the dung-beetle fight scene run for almost a minute without an edit. Over such a long period filming, it was essential that editing should begin in the field so that we could start to achieve the story-telling style we wanted, and make sure that sequences were fully covered. Victoria Stone edited for the entire time we were in the field and then worked alongside editor David Dickie back in the UK. Editing in a tent had its challenges: scorpions and venomous centipedes liked to live in the dark recesses of the edit equipment cases; ants built their nests in computers; thunderstorms flooded the edit tent and rodents bit through electric cables and caused power outages on a regular basis. Keeping the generator topped up, meant a walk out into the bush in the dark with a can of petrol, where an encounter with elephants was a probability and a lion or leopard a distinct possibility. We wanted a setting for the film that was different to anything that had gone before and would be completely fresh - Tsavo offered it. We knew Tsavo would be both a challenge and a risk, but one we decided to take. Tsavo’s elephants are not as tame and habituated as those in Amboseli or Samburu and consequently less photographed and less well known - but Tsavo is home to most of the world’s last remaining giant tuskers. They are iconic elephants of which only about 12 remain. They have enormous tusks - so large that they almost reach the ground, and it was these elephants that we wanted to celebrate. We wanted characters that visually took us back to a timeless elephant Eden - in part for narrative reasons, but also to show what we still have, and what is so threatened. The problem was that they had been heavily poached and consequently were wary and secretive - some of the largest bulls only emerged from deep cover at night to feed, and some matriarchs were so defensive that they would charge from hundreds of meters away. It took almost two years to find our star matriarch and then months to win her trust, and be able to get close enough to film her family. We could never have imagined that one of our ‘stars’ would be killed by poachers over the period we filmed. Tsavo offered us the cast of smaller animals we wanted to film alongside the elephants - animals that were absent from Amboseli and other elephant strongholds like Samburu. We knew that filming them would be a real challenge. Bullfrogs mate for only a few minutes, normally at night, and only when the rains have been very heavy - which might be years apart. Finding them meant wading through pans inhabited by crocodiles and driving thousands of kilometres through the bush, stopping at every flooded pan and listening for their calls. We saw them mating, and managed to film it, only once in four years. Finding their youngsters was slightly easier for the tadpoles formed shoals that were visible from the air, if we flew low and slow. We knew that the inclusion of the smaller animals would give a sense of scale and bring a unique dimension to the project, but it was essential that they had to add to the narrative by interacting with the elephants in some way, and it was achieving those sequences that took time. An undertaking of this kind wouldn’t have been possible without a team, utterly dedicated to the subject, and what we were trying to achieve. We feel very privileged to have spent 4 years working in the field with an extraordinary team - from Assistant Director, Etienne Oliff, all the way through to the film’s short-term interns. The Movie is just the Start …….we aim for The Elephant Queen to make a real difference in Kenya, the country in which it was filmed. We have a major, long-term, Outreach and Education Project (O&E) based on the movie and its themes and characters, supported by BESTSELLER® Foundation that aims to foster an appreciation for wildlife, conservation and the environment among school-children. We have commissioned a series of 30 illustrated learn-to-read books which will be launched in East Africa in collaboration with the Kenyan Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). This literacy programme will be based on the wildlife characters and environmental themes of the film - neither of which are currently included in the curriculum. As with the film, authentic natural history will be woven into engaging stories. The reading series will be accompanied by activity packs and a series of three plays for school-children of different ages. The movie will be translated into the local languages of Swahili and Maa for public screenings. A recent 2 day residential workshop for community conservation organisations has finalised plans to take it out across Kenya for local communities. There are plans for The Elephant Queen environmental education camp in the bush in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park, based at the site of the filming camp. These are all major initiatives that will be rolled-out over the next two years, to ensure that the impact of The Elephant Queen endures in the country in which it was created.

OVERVIEW

ELEPHANT FACTS

REVIEWS & PRESS

ELEPHANT ORGANISATIONS

OUTREACH & EDUCATION

THE ELEPHANT CRISIS The number of elephants in Africa has plummeted in little over a century from approximately 10 million to less than half a million today - a decrease of c. 95%Elephants continue to be illegally killed (poached) for their tusks - modified teeth - made of ivory. In the past ivory was fashioned into piano keys, brush handles, billiard balls, combs, name seals (hankos) and also used as inlay and for intricate carvings. The legal trade in ivory has largely been shut down, but loopholes remain. Exemptions for the trade in antiques containing ivory, mean that illegal ivory can be passed off as antique, and is still able to enter the market place - albeit in smaller quantities than before. China, previously the world’s largest importer of ivory, closed down its remaining state-owned ivory carving factories in 2017. This sent a strong message to the industry and to those who had collected ivory as an investment (betting on the elephants’ ultimate decline and eventual extinction) and over several months the price of raw ivory halved from $2000 / kg to c $1000. The illegal trade continues to flourish however, especially in the Far East - in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Approximately 25,000 African elephants are poached each year - an off-take that the population cannot sustain; a rate of slaughter faster than their birth rates can support. If left unchecked, it will lead to their extinction. Conservation efforts focus on three areas: protecting elephant populations to stop the killing; stopping the trafficking of ivory and reducing demand. Male elephants have the largest tusks, and poachers target them first. The iconic giant tusker Satao, who features in the film, had the largest tusks in the world when he was killed in May 2014. His death caused an international outcry as he was the ‘poster-boy’ of giant tuskers - one of the world’s last giant tuskers. Today only a handful of giant tuskers (elephants with tusks weighing over 100 lbs) remain. Estimates vary, but numbers are likely as low as 25-30, of which c.12 live in a single national park (Tsavo) in Kenya. After bulls, the largest tusks are found on mature cows and it is the oldest of these (like Athena, the 50yr old Elephant Queen) who become matriarchs. Athena had the largest tusks of any of Tsavo’s matriarchs which would have marked her out as a target for poachers. Killing matriarchs throws their families into turmoil, resulting in split, sometimes dysfunctional groups, led by younger less-experienced cows that can never provide the stability and leadership provided by the more experienced matriarchs. High profile campaigns such as #KnotOnMyPlanet a partnership between Tiffany and Co and the Elephant Crisis Fund , featuring Doutzen Kroes and Linda Evangelista have increased awareness and raised funds for conservation. Even if some populations are stable, as in Kenya, across Africa elephant numbers are still in serious decline. The Selous game reserve, a huge wilderness area in Tanzania, until recently had an elephant population of over 100,000 and was regarded as a stronghold for the species - in the space of two decades this has been reduced by 90%, by poaching. Forest elephants that inhabit the rainforests of Central and West Africa are thought to have declined by 60% in little over a decade. Such catastrophic declines have severe impacts on ecosystems as elephants are keystone-species - they disperse the seeds of trees and their loss will imperil Africa’s rainforests. They create paths and waterholes for other animals and are ecosystem engineers whose loss impacts the entire ecosystem. The poaching crisis is the acute threat to elephants that needs addressing immediately or we face the reality of losing most of them within a generation. In the long term, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict are additional threats. Elephants are large free-ranging sentient animals, surprisingly similar to us, that live in family groups led by wise and experienced matriarchs. It is up to every one of us to decide whether we want these remarkable, sentient animals to continue to share the planet with us - the choice is ours.

SARAH

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The Elephant Queen is the result of 8 years work, but really it’s the culmination of a life’s work living in the bush. We had worked together for 25 years in Africa making wildlife films before we felt confident enough to bring something very different to a film about elephants. They had always been tangential to our lives in the bush...

GROUND CREW

ETIENNE

PETE

New York Times - Ken Jaworowski (Critics Choice)Vogue - Kerry McDermottLA Times - Michael OrdoñaElements of Madness - Douglas DavidsonFast Company - Adele Peters

THE ELEPHANT MOVIE - THE BEGINNING

THE BUTTERFLY & THE ELEPHANT

HAUNTED BY A PHOTOGRAPH

BLOG

HOPE FOR ELEPHANTS - ONE WOMAN’S PASSION

SATAO - ONE YEAR ON

ADOPTED BY AN ELEPHANT

A NEW YEAR IN TSAVO

A DAY SHARED WITH ELEPHANTS

SATAO - A LEGEND

THE PASSING OF A GIANT

SATAO - THE ENIGMA

ELEPHANTS - WHY BOTHER?

ANOTHER PLACE, ANOTHER BULL

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW

THE ELEPHANT MOVIE - THE SOUND OF IT

SATAO - THE LEGACY

THE STORY OF A TUSK

WHY WE WONT MISS ELEPHANTS

ALAN ROOT

A MOST BEAUTIFUL ELEPHANT

ELEPHANT ROCK

RAINDROPS IN THE DUST

AMBOS(ELE)

THE SWEET SMELL OF PETRICHOR

NDUME - THE STORY OF AN ELEPHANT

SATAO - LAST OF THE GREAT TUSKERS

CLIP SALES

Clients include Apple, BBC Studios, National Geographic, Discovery and IMAX. Much of the animal behaviour in the films is unique or has never been filmed before - some is new to science.

LICENSING

Vicky and Mark have lived and worked in East Africa making ground-breaking films for over 30 years. Their films celebrate biodiversity and the inter-connectivity of the natural world. They began their careers as underwater filmmakers, making their first film, the award-winning Yndan an Fala - Valley beneath the Sea in 1984 for international release by Survival Anglia.

Their films have won more than 100 international awards including Emmys®, Peabodys®, Griersons, ‘Green Oscars' (Wildscreen) and numerous Best of Festivals including Jackson Hole, and the UK Documentary awards.

In their twenties they moved to East Africa at the invitation of Alan Root (Oscar® winning Serengeti shall not Die) to film the celebrated Here Be Dragons and shortly afterwards the award-winning Devilfish about giant octopus for the BBC. Both films commanded the highest audience viewing figures of their time.

Vicky and Mark have two sons who were raised in bush camps alongside the filming. They have just completed their first feature, the award-winning The Elephant Queen - the first feature film to be purchased and released by Apple.

Mark and Vicky produce 'authored' films - they both direct, film, produce and write their own work. They immerse themselves in their subjects - typically living on location with a small, dedicated team for 2 years to shoot each film. They are both accomplished divers and pilots.

Mark and Vicky’s filming and choice of subject has always been driven by conservation and their passion for the natural world. The couple build outreach and education programmes around their films which includes translating the films into local languages, donating the broadcast rights to the countries in which they are made, and working on the ground with local conservation groups.

Wildscreen - Best cinematography Jackson Hole Intl. Wildlife Film Festival - Best of Festival, Grand Teton award World Audiovisual Council for Production and Research in the Arts - Best cinematography 14th International Wildlife Film Festival - Best of Festival, Best Cinematography, Best Television documentary special Best Script, Best editing, Merit award for outstanding presentation of Ecological Inter-relationships Shanghai Television Festival - Best Documentary Film

Festival Mondial de l’Image sous marin - Prix de la Station de Stareso, Palme d’Argent Wildscreen Festival - Finalist. Spondyle Film Festival ’87 - Special Prix San Sebastian XIII Ciclo Internacional Cine Submarino - Premio Especial Czechoslovakia International Film Festival - Special award

SUNLIGHT & SHADOW

TIDES OF KIRAWIRA

Animal Behaviour Society Award 3eme Festival Int du Film Animalier - 1er Prix Environment. Wildscreen - finalist

DEVILFISH

New York Festival - Worldmedal for International TV Jackson Hole Intl.Wildlife Film Festival - Best Animal Behaviour /Ecology Festival Int de l’Emission Scientifique - Grand Prix Wildscreen - Dieter Plage Award for Revelation, Jury Special award for overall Craft 17th International Wildlife Film Festival - Best of Festival, 2nd place, Best Ecological/ Environmental Programme, Merit award for cinematography, Merit award for artistic portrayal of an ecosystem, Merit award for use of natural sounds International San Francisco Film Festival - Golden Gate Award Festival Int. du Film Ornithologique - Award for best documentary for protection and promotion of wetlands

Wildscreen - Golden Panda, Best of Festival Festival Int. de l’Emission Scientifique - Grand Prix 18th International Wildlife Film Festival - Merit award for underwater cinematography, Finalist award Festival Mondial de l’image sous marin - Palme d’or 20th Ciclo Int Cine Submarino - Best of Festival, Grand Prix. Japan Wildlife Festival - Best Wildlife Documentary Award.

LUNDY’S GOLDEN MILE

Peabody Festival, USA - Peabody Award for Excellence Telluride MountainFilm Festival - Grand Prize Public Choice New York Festivals - Grand Award, Best Documentary Banff Festival - Best High Definition Film British Documentary Awards - Best Science and Natural History Film (Grierson Award) United Nations Festival for Forests - Best of Festival FIFA Festival, France - Best Scientific Film Jackson Hole Int. festival - Best Animal Behaviour, Best Script Shanghai Festival - Magnolia Award, Best Nature Film Liden Eur Int. Film Festival - Delegates Choice Award 29th Int Wildlife Film Festival - Best Television Programme 16th Bird & Nature Film Festival -Special Jury Prize NaturVision, Germany - Best Cinematography Matsalu Int. Festival - The Grand Prix Telenatura, Spain - Best of Festival, Best Cinematography Wildscreen Finalist - Animal Behaviour, Music Waga Festival - Grand Prix Sondrio Festival Best of Festival, Public Choice Award Image et Science, Paris - Grand Prix Wild & Scenic Film Festival - Best of Festival John de Graaf Env. Filmmaker Award Cine Golden Eagle - Golden Eagle Award USA New York Explorers’ Club - Best of Festival Wild Asia Int. festival - Best Cinematography, Best Script Writing US Int. Film & Video Festival - Golden Camera First place Award Int. Science Film Festival Athens - Best of Festival Vedera la Scienza Int. Festival - Best of Festival, TV category EcoVision 2007- Best Environmental Documentary Progetto Natura, Italy - Best of Festival, Public choice WildTalk Africa - Best of Festival, Best Cinematography CMS Vataavaran Festival, India - Best of Festival Emmy Nominations - Best Cinematography, Best sound and Music

19th Ciclo Int. Cine Submarino - Premio Especial

HERE BE DRAGONS

Festival Mondial de l’image sous marin - Palme bronze

25th World U/W film festival, Antibes - Prix du President de la Republique, Palme D’Or, Prix du Public New York Festival - Worldmedal for Int.TV programming 22nd Int. Wildlife Film Festival - Best of Festival, Sir MA Patha Sarathy Award, Best Original Score Best Soundmix, Best Underwater Photography, Best of Category (Long Television), Finalist Award Merit Award for Storytelling, Merit Award for Topside Photography, Merit Award for Presentation of Ecosystem Merit Award for Editing, Merit Award for Script, Merit Award for Narration, Merit Award for Use of Music Telluride MountainFilm - Best Nature Film Royal Television Society - Lighting, Photography and camera nomination Progetta Natura Int. Film Festival - Best Film, Golden Ibex Trophy, Best Nature Story 16th Int. Tv Science Prog - Festival Grand Prix 23rd Int. U/w Films Festival - Special Prize 10th TeleScience Film Festival - Award for Excellence in Television 1st Int Festival of Nature Films, Poland - Grand Prix Animal Behaviour Society Film Festival - Winner Int. Biennial Festival of Scientific Films - Best Naturalistic Film Earthwatch Institute - Special award for excellence in wildlife filmmaking

VALLEY BENEATH THE SEA

Emmy - Music and Sound design Emmy Nomination - Outstanding Science and Nature Jackson Hole Intl. Festival - Best of Festival, Grand Teton, Best Animal Behaviour Peabody Festival - Peabody Award for Excellence Moondance - Best Feature Documentary, Calypso Award Wildscreen - Best Cinematography Progetta Natura - Best of Festival, Technical Jury award, Best film, Best film, children's choice Telluride MountainFilm Festival - Best Wildlife Film Japan Wildlife Festival - Best of Festival Toyama Ptarmigan award - Public choice, Best of Festival, Children’s choice World Underwater Festival, Antibes - Best of Festival, Public Choice, Special Jury Award Animal Behaviour Society - Best film award Festival Int. du Film Animalier - Best of Festival, Best of Festival, Public Choice, Best Editing Int. Wildlife Film Festival – Missoula Best television film, Awards for: u/w photography, script, editing Waga Brothers Int. wildlife film - Best of Festival 17th Int. Tv. Science Festival, Paris - Special Jury award Columbus film festival - Chris Award Sondrio International Festival - Best of Festival Ciclo Int. de cine Submarino - Premio Especial Int. Natur und Tierfilmfestival Best of Festival – Public Choice Award, Award for Innovation

ELEPHANT FACTS

and their friends...

In Africa, the elephant population has fallen by 95% in just over a century. Approximately 30,000 elephants are poached each year. The illegal trade in ivory is at its highest level in 20 years.

REVIEWS

New York Times - Ken Jaworowski Vogue - Kerry McDermottLA Times - Michael OrdoñaElements of Madness - Douglas DavidsonFast Company - Adele Peters

Narrated by Chewitel Ejiofor

" With intense emotional twists and incredible photography, it’s no wonder this has been one of the most highly acclaimed and beloved films of the year." Lane Kneedler, AFI Docs programme

TALE OF THE TIDES