The Elephant, the Emperor and the Butterfly Tree Neil Curry 2004 South Africa 52min The incredible relationship between different species, all struggling to survive, and how each organism's actions impact the lives of others, is very clearly highlighted in the interactions of the elephant, emperor moth and the mopane tree. Encounter resin bees, body-guard mopane ants and their livestock scale insects, the devil's child (chameleon), wise old giraffes and many other fascinating denizens that the mopane tree supports. Winner of the Golden Panda Award and Soundtrack Award at Wildscreen, Bristol, and six other 'best of festival'� awards around the world.		Paradise Under Pressure Nick Chevalier 1996 South Africa 52 min Paradise under Pressure takes us to Maputaland, the region between Lake St Lucia in South Africa and Mozambique. The documentary explores the fascinating interplay between the local communities and their incredibly diverse environment. It reveals how the people in Maputaland still follow traditional methods of natural resource use, and highlights the region's fragility in face of existing pressures from agriculture, deforestation, mining and tourism. Find out more about this film at http://www.chevallierproductions.co.za/
Tracks Corrie Francis 2003 USA 2min (animation) Evening falls on the African landscape and animals prepare for the night ahead. Using fluid sand animation and a unique method of backlit collage, animator Corrie Francis creates a dreamlike vision of an African sunset. The forceful vocals of Cameroonian acapella group Iguewa Ni Mbia flow with the animation to capture the breathtaking mystery of the African savannah. Find out more about this film at http://www.corriefrancis.com/filmpages/tracks.htm		A Last Glimpse: Desert Coast Claudio Velásquez and Francois Odendaal 2003 South Africa 54min Desert coast portrays the fragile and diverse arid lands that extend from the Orange River to the Namib Desert. This arid landscape contrasts dramatically with the exuberant Benguela that extends its influence at least 80km into the desert. Originally produced for television, this documentary takes us through some of the most extraordinary adaptations of inhabitants of this area to the prevailing harsh conditions. From tiny animal life forms in the sand to local populations that have lived for generations in the desert. From the Topnaar people whose life is closely linked with the Nara plant, to the Richtersveld Namas who were dispossessed and marginalized of their land when diamonds were discovered near the Orange River. Find out more at www.fopfilms.com
Vanishing Waters Nick Chevalier 1999 South Africa 26 min Wetlands are vital for biodiversity conservation, improvement of water quality, reduction of flood damage and provision of natural resources. Yet they are one of the most critically threatened habitat types in South Africa today. Vanishing Waters explores the critical role of wetlands in the country. This documentary travels around several of South Africa's provinces to tell stories about rural and urban wetlands, highlighting the threats they face and the need to protect them. Find out more about this film at http://www.chevallierproductions.co.za/		A Last Glimpse: Cape of Storms Claudio Velásquez 2003 South Africa 54min Cape of Storms takes us to the Southern tip of Africa. Here two oceans meet on the edge of a land ruled by fire and wind. Originally produced for television, this documentary shows the Cape of Storms as a fragile place - one that can be destroyed by its own beauty should we fail to ensure a sustainable development path. The Cape Peninsula is home to one of the richest floral kingdoms in the world, the fynbos, and surrounded by some of the most unpredictable and stormy seas. The film highlights how the ban on whale hunting has seen the dramatic recovery of the Southern Right Whales and shows striking images of the largest Cape Gannet colony in the world. Find out more at www.fopfilms.com
BCLME, Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Francois Odendaal & Claudio Velásquez 2004 South Africa 20min Taking us through striking landscapes above and underwater, this short film explains the importance of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) for the three countries that border this region - South Africa, Namibia and Angola. These three countries have joined hands to improve the management of the living marine resources and the protection of the marine environment. This short film was commissioned by the BCLME Programme. Find out more at www.fopfilms.com		A Hell of Fishing Vincent Bruno 2006 Belgium 23 min "Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he can eat for the rest of his life." Overfishing of local waters leads Europeans to plunder African seas. Add a dash of free trade, a sprinkle of subsidies, and then inject a dose of fishing trawlers around the world, and you get a hell of fishing on the Dark Continent. This trenchant documentary traces the plundering of Senegalese fishing stocks, unfair trade practices, and the destructive effects of globalisation on Man and environment alike. Second Place Jury Award at Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films and Public Prize at Limoges Short Film Festival Find out more about this film at http://www.dalp.org/
Conversing with Aotearoa/ New Zealand Corrie Francis 2006 New Zealand, USA 15min We are bound to identify with this film, as Africa is still a continent of wild and remote areas. In an age of technological integration and urban life, people turn to the natural world for a wilderness experience. What draws us to the remote corners of land and sea when we realize something in our lives is missing? Conversing with Aotearoa/New Zealand uses unique visual imagery to take the viewer into the physical and metal wilderness encompassed in the diverse landscapes of New Zealand. In this short animated documentary, New Zealanders attempt to fathom their deep, personal connection with their land. Best Student Short at Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival and First Prize Multimedia Exposure at Auckland University. Find out more about this film at http://home.comcast.net/~corrie.francis/ conversing.htm		A Fragile Harmony – The West Coast National Park Neil Curry 1991 South Africa 55min Langebaan Lagoon and the bird islands of Saldanha Bay make up the heart of South Africa’s West Coast National Park. A quarter of the world’s Cape Gannets nest here, 25,000 Cape cormorants, 10,000 jackass penguins and 10% of the world’s black oystercatchers. Tens of thousands of waders do the 24,000 km round-trip from northern Europe to spend the southern summer feeding on the rich mudflats. This award-winning film takes you on a guided tour through this intricate but fragile ecosystem: from the stark dune fields with their spectacular fossils dating back 5 million years, to the voracious rock lobsters in the cold plankton-rich Benguela current that sweeps up the west coast of Africa; from the rakish swift-terns nesting on the sandbanks to the delicate courtship dance of cuttlefish in the warm and shallow waters at the head of the lagoon. Silver Screen award winner at the 1989 US Film & Video Festival.
Knysna: The embattled Estuary Neil Curry 1989 South Africa 40min “Knysna” – the word means magic to many South Africans: holiday time and oysters; misty summer dawns; long, lazy days by the sea. But it’s also the name of one of the biggest and most biologically productive estuaries on South Africa’s coast. This fascinating film is a trip through a complex ecosystem that stretches from the natural forests that blanket the foothills of the Outeniqua Mountain to the Knysna Heads – the estuary’s spectacular gateway to the Indian Ocean. Underwater, strange creatures vie for food; cuttlefish and octopus, the famous pansy shells, the rare Knysna seahorse and the giant mud-crab Scylla serrata. Above water, a whole range of wetland birds add to the rich diversity of life. But people are also an integral part of the life of the estuary. Knysna presents a unique opportunity for us to live alongside nature and become involved in preserving an important part of the Earth’s heritage.		Buried in Earthskin Helena Kingwill 2004 South Africa 56min After attending the Johannesburg W.S.S.D. in 2002, and haunted by a disturbing visual premonition about the earth, a young female journalist (Helena) sets off on a road trip to Namaqualand to see where the nuclear waste is buried. She meets a group of Namakhoi women living near the nuclear dump. While they bake bread in an out door wood fired oven, they discuss the nuclear waste dump and its effect on their lives. In an attempt to understand the government’s decision to invest in nuclear as apposed to renewable energy, Helena visits experts and Nuclear facilities all over South Africa in what becomes a spiritual as well as picturesque physical journey which takes place over two years. The film is meant more as a visual poem than a political statement. It aims to lead the audience to understand the fragility of the Earth as an organism that sustains our lives and the long term responsibility we have for her survival. This film is a work in progress and has not as yet been released. This edit was completed in 2004. Feedback appreciated: hdkingwill@polka.co.za
Getting our Land Back Francois Odendaal & Claudio Velásquez Rojas 2003 South Africa 57min This documentary shows the struggle of the Nama people to win their ancestral land back of which they were dispossessed by diamond mining companies for almost a century. Find out more at www.fopfilms.com