Picture of His Life: Amos Nachoum’s Polar Bears

Coca-Cola probably has piles of consumer research that proves everyone loves polar bears, but for Israeli marine wildlife photographer Amos Nachoum, it is a different sort of love. They are like his great white whale. For years, he has wanted to capture photos of them swimming underwater. Yonatan Nir & Dani Menkin follow Nachoum on the expedition that might be his last, best chance to take his career capstone polar bear shots in Picture of His Life, which releases virtually today in New York (in conjunction with the JCC Manhattan).

Polar bears are dangerously fast swimmers, who are probably more comfortable in water than on land. They are not scared of humans—according to the film, they are the only animal that has people below them in their food chain. That makes Nachoum’s unprotected and completely exposed methods particularly risky. That is also why his pictures are often so vibrant and dynamic.

To take polar bear pictures, you have to go where the polar bears are: the Canadian Arctic. There is a sequence that shows Nachoum’s journey from Israel to the far arctic north in a style reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the arrow for his journey seems to keep going and going. When he finally reaches base camp, his Inuit guide Joe Kaludjak and his son lead Nachoum and company on excursions that are more like commando raids, except it will only really be the photographer facing danger, rather than their targets.

In fact, Nachoum nerves were hardened as a member of the IDF’s heroic Sayeret Shaked special forces during the Yom Kippur War. Frankly, Nachoum does not say very much throughout the film. His admirers and sisters somewhat imply he prefers the company of wildlife, due to his wartime experiences and decidedly strained relationship to his parents, but Nir & Merkin do not belabor the issue.

Nature: The World’s Most Wanted Animal

They are considered the only truly scaly mammal, but if you are not already familiar with the pangolin, you may not have much time to get to know them. Currently, they are considered the most endangered and most illegally trafficked animals on the globe. However, pangolins have a few friends out there, including dedicated preservationist Maria Diekmann and possibly the most famous woman in the world, Angelababy (trust me, nobody in Hollywood can touch her social media numbers). From Namibia and Vietnam to Hong Kong, activist race to save the pangolin in Victoria Bromley’s The World’s Most Wanted Animal (promo here), which airs this Wednesday on PBS as part of the current season of Nature.

Diekmann is pretty the boots on the ground when it comes to saving the African pangolin in Namibia. She gets the call when authorities recover live pangolins. Even with their scales, they are a surprisingly cute little creature, sort of like armadillos that walk upright on their hindlegs, but with more personality. Tragically, pangolin scales have been a staple of traditional Chinese medicine and there is also demand in Chinese restaurants for their meat. As a result, the Chinese market has largely decimated the Asian species of pangolins, despite the best efforts of Thai Van Nguyen and his pangolin rescue colleagues at the nonprofit Save Vietnam’s Wildlife—and they are fast depleting the African population, as well.

Essentially, Most Wanted is divided into two parts. The first focuses on Diekmann’s work in Namibia, giving special attention to Honey Bun, a pangolin she saved as a baby. The second chronicles Diekmann’s travels in Asia, learning from her Vietnamese colleagues’ experiences and strategizing PR outreach with Angelababy. Clearly, the only way to save the pangolins for the long term is to make the consumption of their products socially unacceptable in the Chinese market. One of the results of their meeting was this stark PSA, posted on her social networks. (For the record, Maggie Q is also a pangolin ambassador, so pay attention.)

Throughout Most Wanted, Bromley and Diekmann definitely drive home the urgency of the situation (which is indeed dire), but the pangolins are still quite entertaining to watch, especially Honey Bun. They are their own best advocates, but it does not hurt to have Angelababy cranking up her star-power. Cinematographers Sue Gibson and Graham MacFarlane also capture some stunning shots of the natural landscapes of Africa and Vietnam. There is actually quite a bit in this film to see—and protect. Highly recommended for the message and the visuals, The World’s Most Wanted Animal premieres this Wednesday (5/23), on PBS’s Nature.

Disney Nature’s Born in China

Let’s be honest, pandas are adorable. Their custodial guardians are a different matter. From an environmental perspective, the People’s Republic is one of the worst serial polluters in the world. However, any concern for Chinese environmental policy is conspicuously absent from Disney Nature’s new Chinese co-production. That may indeed be problematic, but those pandas are still just as cute in Lu Chuan’s Born in China (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Lu, an established Chinese auteur who often works with large canvasses (notably City of Life and Death, Last Supper, and Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe), crisscrossed China from the rocky edge of the Tibetan Steppe to the Eden-like Woolong Nature Reserve, filming symbolically Chinese animals in their natural habitats. We follow a mother snow leopard trying to provide for her young, watch a mischievous golden snub-nose monkey on the verge of growing up, and chill out with a contented panda lazing about with her cub. In between, we get some interludes of iconic Chinese cranes. Parents should be warned up front, Born in China does not end well for one of its focal characters (hint: it’s not the pandas).

Indeed, there is so much anthropomorphism going on, Lu refuses to call it a documentary, but a narrative film instead. His directness is refreshing, but Lu and his crew were still stuck with the endings nature provided. In one case, they try to spin some pretty dire consequences into an affirming manifestation of the Buddhist cycle of life. That kind of works for us, but you’ll have to judge for yourself whether that will work for your seven-year-old.

The usual environmental message of most Disney Nature films is also conspicuously missing. Frankly, Born in China does not even bother to ask us to pick up our litter. You would have no idea Mainland China has any environmental issues whatsoever from watching this film. Rather tellingly, the English-language release was narrated by John Krasinski, who wrote and co-starred in the anti-fracking drama Promised Land, partly-financed by a subsidiary of the government of OPEC member state, the United Arab Emirates. So, apparently, his environmental convictions are for sale to the highest bidder.

Frankly, we would probably all be happier if Disney had just subtitled the Chinese narration of Zhou Xun, because she’s a real movie star. In addition, Lu demonstrates his keen eye for spectacle and grandeur. He and his battery of cinematographers, including aerial specialist Irmin Kerck, capture some stunning shots. They also manage to zoom in so up-close-and-personal, it makes it rather easy to ascribe human emotions to their furry cast-members. They even include the nature documentary equivalent of the Jackie Chan blooper reel during the closing credits (“don’t worry, snow leopards never attack humans . . .”).

Born in China is an impressive production, but it is rather disturbing Disney Nature presumably allowed their Chinese partners to self-censor their ordinarily strong environmental messaging. Once again, that “panda diplomacy” pays dividends for the Mainland government. Nature lovers should definitely take in the wonders Lu records, but they should temper it with an unvarnished look at Beijing’s exploitative land use policies, such as Michael Buckley’s short doc Plundering Tibet (available on Vimeo here). For panda lovers desiring a fix, Born in China opens this Friday (4/21) in theaters throughout the City, including the AMC Empire.

Seasons: The Winged Migration Team on Dry Land

There was a time when Europe was covered in verdant forests. Apparently, they have not pursued nature conservancy as proactively as we have in America, but at least they gave us the Renaissance and the Enlightenment while converting vast areas of land to agricultural and urban uses. Fortunately, Jacques Perrin & Jacques Cluzaud, the filmmaking team behind Winged Migration and Oceans, could still find enough surviving forest habitats for their latest nature documentary, Seasons (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Among nature documentarians, Perrin & Cluzaud have probably crafted the most inventive strategies for filming wild animals in their natural habitats. Shooting on land should be easier than the sea and air, but they continue to capture some arrestingly up-close moments. However, their ambition also extended to the film’s narrative structure this time around. With their regular co-screenwriter, Stéphane Durand, they use the changing of the four seasons to represent the passing of 80,000 years in the forest. They also let the film evolve into an environmental morality play, with the wasteful folly of man represented in impersonal dramatic recreation scenes.

As one would expect, Seasons works best when it focuses on the animals. There are a number of scenes involving newborn wolf and fox pups, who are just as cute as wild beasts can ever get. There are also extended sequences with bears, which are always cinematic. Perrin & Cluzaud cannot resist filming some of the birds that make the forest home, but for the most part, the film centers on highly relatable furry mammals.

However, the scenes involving mankind are (not so surprisingly) often didactic and awkward. At one point, they suggest the mustard gas employed during World War I wreaked havoc on the local bird populations. From what I understand, the soldiers getting gassed weren’t so crazy about it either.

Wisely, the distributor opted to subtitle the solemn narration, because it most likely comes off less unintentionally funny via the printed word than through overly dramatic proclamations. Frankly, there are also one or two man-as-the-most-dangerous-predator scenes that make us doubt the film’s ASPCA disclaimer: “no animals were hurt …”

Regardless, when Perrin & Cluzaud stick to what they do best, Seasons is quite impressive. The large battery of cinematographers (including Winged Migration and Oceans alumni Michel Benjamin and Laurent Fleutot) all deserve awards consideration. However, its allegorical layer is just too pretentious and clunky. Yet, most viewers will still argue the wolf pups make it worth seeing. For fans of dazzlingly produced true nature films, Seasons opens this Friday (11/25) in New York, at the Lincoln Plaza uptown and the Landmark Sunshine downtown.

Glow in the Dark Wolves

Driven to tame nature, the Soviet government declared war on wolves during its “land improvement” binges. Yet ironically, the Soviet Union’s greatest ecological disaster would eventually provide a safe haven for the wolves of Chernobyl. A group of German, Ukrainian, and Belarusian scientists track the apparently thriving wolf packs living around the notorious nuclear reactor in Klaus Feichtenberger’s Radioactive Wolves (promo here), the winner of the best habitat program award at the 2011 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, which kicks off the new season of Nature on PBS tomorrow night.

They really are radioactive. As a result, the scientists studying the wolves are limited in the amount of time they can spend in the wide no-man’s land surrounding Chernobyl and must take precautions not to ingest hair particles when interacting with the animals. Surprisingly, despite the initial devastation caused by the meltdown, the area has become a sheltered Eden for wildlife. As the top predators, the health of the wolves necessarily implies every creature below them in the food chain is also flourishing.

Radioactive largely follows the traditional format for nature films, mainly observing the wolves in their habitat and the scientists’ efforts to collar and examine them, with some explanatory narration from Harry Smith. However, it rather forthrightly addresses the Soviets’ massive assault on the environment, draining marshes to create a habitat-devastating system of canals. Nor does it paint a particularly flattering portrait of the Soviet response to the mounting Chernobyl debacle.

Feichtenberger and crew captured some truly striking images of the once bustling Pripyat ghost city, now reclaimed by the indigenous wildlife. Frankly, Radioactive is a somewhat bold production, because it largely undercuts the anti-nuclear campaign’s propaganda of scorched earth and lifeless wastelands as the inevitable consequence of nuclear power. Granted, humans cannot live in the zone, but nature has rebounded, reversing the damage of years of state economic planning.

Though twenty-five years have passed since the Chernobyl disaster, it is still too early for the scientists in Radioactive to make many sweeping conclusions. Still, it seems safe to say the reality is far better than nearly anyone would expect. Offering a rare opportunity to see an area where few humans will ever tread (much like the theatrical documentaries Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Into Eternity), Radioactive is exactly the sort of programming public television was intended to present. It airs this Wednesday (10/19) on PBS as part of the new season of Nature.

(Photos: Klaus Feichtenberger)

Turtle: An Incredible Transatlantic Crossing

Loggerhead turtles, especially the young, are actually kind of cute, in a Charlie Brown sort of way. Unfortunately, their first moments are rather trying. If they can make it to the ocean, instinct takes over, carrying them across the Atlantic and back as they grow and harden. It is an epic process captured in Nick Stringer’s Turtle: the Incredible Journey, a new nature documentary carrying the Seaworld imprimatur, which opens this Friday in New York.

Loggerhead turtles are born buried on sandy beaches, where the females will eventually return to lay their eggs. Just digging their way to the surface is a labor for the newly hatched turtles. Once above ground, they must contend with predatory birds and crabs as they scramble towards the sea. This will probably be the most challenging scene for young viewers. Even adults might find themselves hoping Stringer’s crew will intervene on the loggerheads’ behalf. Of course, this would be a major violation of the Starfleet Prime Directive. As it happens, older loggerheads will in turn feed on similar crabs, as the circle of life comes around.

Turtles have no gills, yet they still live most of their lives in and under the water. Hardwired with considerable instinctive sense, the young turtle hitches a ride on the Gulf Stream, riding a patch of seaweed across the Atlantic. While an eddy sends her on a long detour in the notoriously still Sargasso Sea, her journey’s hiatus allows the turtle time to mature. In due course, she makes her way to the North Atlantic, across to the shore of Nova Scotia, down to the Caribbean and finally back to the Florida beaches of her birth. There are plenty of dangers along the way (yes, including humankind), but mature loggerheads are made of sturdy stuff.

The vivid clarity of Rory McGuiness’ mostly underwater photography is quite stunning. Using a variety of cameras, Stringer brings viewers up close and personal with the loggerheads and their fellow denizens of the deep (Discovery Channel fans should note, there are also quite a few sharks swimming through Incredible). Evidently, some VFX enhancements were sparingly added in post, which might sound like a bit of a cheat, but it serves the film’s intimate focus on the POV loggerhead as she mingles with the diverse and forbidding ocean community.

Miranda Richardson’s narration should be clear and soothing for young audiences. While maybe not the most expressive of creatures, the loggerhead is surprisingly photogenic, at least as filmed by Stringer and McGuiness. Although their numbers had dipped, the film informs us the loggerhead population is on the rebound—happy news, indeed. Of course, they still close with a soft pitch for the Save Our Seas conservation effort, which is fair enough. Admirably well crafted and surprisingly engaging, Incredible is one of the better representatives of the recent wave of nature films to making their way to theaters. It screens in 3-D at select locations, but good old fashioned 2-D is perfectly sufficient. Recommended for families and nature lovers (even the more casual types), the safely G-rated Incredible opens this Friday (6/24) in New York at the Regal Union Square.

IFF ’11: Land of Genesis

When watching a mongoose take out his hissing foe in Israel’s first nature documentary, the allegory is almost too easy to draw. Fortunately, Israel has been the scrappy mongoose, not only defending the only civilized corner of the Middle East but also preserving considerable areas of pristine nature. Moshe Alpert documents three species of mammals raising their young in the wild habitats of Israel most people never knew existed in Land of Genesis (trailer here), which screens during the upcoming 2011 Israel Film Festival in New York.

Genesis will radically change how many people think of Israel, particularly the Golan Heights, where two wolves are starting their own pack. Likewise, the Sea of Galilee probably has much different associations for viewers than as the habitat for swamp cats. At least the desert might seem like a fitting environment for exotic species, like the ibexes Alpert follows.

Director-cinematographer Alpert captures some truly dramatic footage, often from decidedly unusual angles. However, he never minimizes the life-and-death realities of the natural world. Easily his most dramatic footage captures the ibexes scrambling off their mountaintop perches when a minor earthquake causes an avalanche. Indeed, it is a sequence that might be too intense for young viewers.

Yaron London’s narration is unabashedly anthropomorphic, yet the wolves, dubbed Alon and Nufar, seem remarkably expressive to human eyes. Still, it is probably the scenes of the ibexes with their large curved horns and unforgiving mating rituals that will be most informative to American audiences. (Parents should also be warned of a brief scene of animal “husbandry.”)

Capitalizing on the arresting vistas of natural Israel, Genesis is a visually striking film. Alpert captures some up-close-and-personal scenes of survival in the wild that provide moments of genuine surprise. It also demonstrates the how seriously the State of Israel takes their stewardship of the environment. One of the better films of the recent bumper crop of wildlife documentaries, it screens this Sunday (5/8), next Wednesday (5/11), the following Sunday (5/15), and Thursday (5/19) as part of the 2011 Israel Film Festival. In an ironic way, as the first Israeli nature doc, Genesis would also make a good double feature with Navot Papushado & Aharon Kashales’subversively witty Rabies, the first Israeli slasher film (also set in a nature preserve, albeit with an old minefield hidden within) which also screens at the festival next Saturday (5/14).

South Africa at AFA: Land Apart

It is not hard to see why cinematographer Sven Persson’s feature docu-hybrid ran afoul of state censors during Apartheid. Frankly, it is difficult to understand how it was produced in the first place. Simultaneously angry and eccentric, the Swedish-born South African-naturalized Persson’s Land Apart is a truly odd time capsule of South African in the 1970’s, which screens during the Anthology Film Archives’ upcoming United We Stand: South African Cinema during Apartheid retrospective.

Gary Miller is a fictional nightclub singer, who wants to set the world straight on his South African homeland after feeling stung by European criticism during a recent tour. Brian is a white liberal “researcher,” who in turn, wants to set the crooner straight. In between their politically charged verbal sparring, Brian gives Miller a vaguely Marxian history of South Africa and the development of Apartheid. An established nature filmmaker who worked with Ivan (Daktari) Tors, Persson periodically cuts away to scenes of indigenous wildlife. He also includes generous talking head interviews with political figures, both black and white, from across the political spectrum, including advocates of Apartheid, who not surprisingly come across quite poorly.

Apart was only previously released in a print completely butchered by the government censors. Considering how much they must have had to cut, it must have been more of a short subject than a feature. Perhaps they kept the explanation of the Afrikaners’ tenacious battlefield fighting techniques during the Boers Wars and a few of the unconvincing defenses of Apartheid from various government mouthpieces.

While the dramatic framing device increasingly approaches outright camp, the soundtrack has some groovy funkiness that will prick up many discerning ears. In his rarely seen director’s cut, Persson displays a subversive visual sensibility, juxtaposing scenes of jackals scavenging dead flesh with unvarnished images of township life. Clearly, Apartheid is now a settled controversy, but Apart’s Cliff Note history of South Africa will still likely be informative for many viewers. Dated to be sure, but still strangely engaging, Apart is definitely worth checking out next Sunday (4/10) and the following Thursday (4/14), while the United We Stand series begins this Friday (4/7) at AFA.

Feel the Pride: The Last Lions

Over the last half century, the lion population has declined from roughly 450,000 to something in the 20,000 range. Mankind might be a reckless predator, but the greatest threats posed to young lion cubs are often other lions on the hunt. Nature can indeed be cruel, as viewers see in no uncertain terms throughout Dereck & Beverly Joubert’s true wildlife documentary The Last Lions (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

While a film’s distributor is usually immaterial to its merits, the imprimatur of National Geographic Entertainment establishes instant credibility for a nature film like Last Lions. Unlike the old Disney True Life Adventures (at least as most of us probably remember them), the Jouberts are not afraid to show the brutality of life in the wild. There will be blood, from both predator and prey alike.

Single motherhood is a difficult proposition in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, but Ma di Tau (or “Mother of Lions” as the Jouberts refer to her) will tenaciously fight to protect her cubs—the last of her pride. Avoiding human settlements, their biggest concern is a rival pride led by “Silver Eye,” an aggressive, battle-scarred lioness. Of course, food is also a pressing issue. Unfortunately, the neighboring buffalo herd constitutes decidedly dangerous game.

While the law of the jungle is clearly brutish and unforgiving, the filmmakers also capture its rough beauty. It is amazing what director-cinematographer Dereck Joubert was able to capture on film, with up-close-and-personal intimacy. Through his lens, viewers also witness atypical behavior for lions born of desperation, as Ma di Tau and her cubs reluctantly swim out to Duba Island to escape Silver Eye and her fellow huntresses.

Though the Jouberts convey a vivid sense of the animals’ personalities and emotions, actor Jeremy Irons’ narration is a tad overblown, approaching the hyped-up tenor of NFL Films’ voice-overs: “but for Ma di Tau, there would come another day.” Even if it is corny at times, it all works together rather effectively as Joubert’s striking visuals and Irons’ silky tones rally viewer sympathy for Ma di Tau and her cubs.

This is the natural world. Not to drop any spoilers, but parents should be aware, getting emotionally attached during the PG-rated Last Lions might lead to some disappointment for younger viewers. Adults however, should appreciate the Jouberts’ editorial integrity. Yet, perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the film is watching the lions locked in mortal combat, even though it does not serve the overall interests of their dwindling species. Tragically, the territorial imperative is simply too deeply ingrained.

Of course, the filmmakers hasten to add viewers can help, including a pitch for the National Geographic Society’s Big Cats Initiative just as the concluding credits role. While not exactly subtle, it hardly detracts from an impressive work of nature filmmaking. Far surpassing PBS programming, Last Lions is engaging look at a powerful but endangered species, recommended for animal watchers when it opens in New York this Friday (2/18) at the Angelika Film Center.