WILDSCREEN FESTIVAL 2006
WILDSCREEN FESTIVAL 2006
ANNA FOX
15– 20 October, Bristol
Wildscreen is held every two years in Bristol, the UK’s hub of natural history film-making. It is the biggest festival of its kind and this year over 400 wildlife films were submitted to the festival.
Throughout the week, there was a diverse range of events, film screenings, talks and discussions, workshops and a great chance to meet like-minded people in the industry from all over the world, and of course, commissioning editors.
The events were held mainly in the Watershed media centre in Bristol city centre. But the first night of the festival, Sunday, kicked off with “The greatest show on earth” at the Bristol Old Vic theatre. Hosted by Alan Titschmarsh, this was a celebration of 100 years of wildlife film-making – a sort of this is your life of wildlife films. With clips from some of the earliest ever wildlife films, including Attenborough’s Zoo Quest, up to recent ground-breaking blue-chip series, the clips were combined with Alan’s conversations with guests like Alastair Fothergill, Richard Brock, Tony Soper, and of course, culminating with David Attenborough.
Monday to Friday there was a jam-packed diary of events. Numerous talks about subjects varying from International Co-productions (most commissioners will only accept HD now) and Versioning (with co-pro’s there are so many audiences to please, producers often have to make several versions of the same doc, so the key is being adaptable – this seemed most evident between UK and US audiences); Filming Ethics (where should we draw the line when it comes to showing sex and violence in wildlife? We must be honest but some footage can be too gruesome to show); High Def Formats (although expensive, the difference in quality is enormous and most broadcasters are switching to HD only. By 2010 the BBC aim to produce everything in HD).
On Wednesday night, the Wildscreen Awards ceremony took place. As well as big series such as Life in the Undergrowth and Planet Earth walking away with awards, smaller-scale films were also recognised. The lifetime award for outstanding achievement went to BBC producer Mike Salisbury, who although retired from the BBC in February this year, he continues to make films,
This was aptly followed on Thursday morning by a session chaired by Brian Leith “…in conversation with Mike Salisbury”. The session could be described as Mike’s Desert Island Digibeta – his favourite clips form turning points throughout his long career in the industry. He shared one valuable lesson he learnt early on in his career with the audience: “If you’re not prepared to stand up in front of a public audience and explain honestly exactly how you got the shots, there’s something fundamentally wrong in the way you film wildlife.” He has worked closely on series with David Attenborough since Life on Earth, continuing on to Life in the Undergrowth.
Many film festivals have a session about the commissioning process – how best to pitch, how to think like a commissioner and how to ultimately get a commission. This year, Wildscreen’s offer was a session titled “Commissioning: Them vs Us” hosted by Mike Gunton, Executive Producer at the BBC Natural History Unit who has commissioned for The Natural World in the past, and also Mike Birkhead who runs independent production company Mike Birkhead Associates. Often these sessions can be dry and same-y, but this was entertaining and informative. The session started with a clip about a commissioner being pitched to while on the toilet. He then ran out of loo paper and resorted to using the proposal just handed to him instead. This was a true story – some people have no shame. Although this was an extreme example, there is a middle ground. It is give and take on both sides and the commissioner needs us as much as we need them. It should be a creative two-way process. Key components to any pitch include the stage, players and the story – how will the players develop and what will we find out? And as so many people advise, it is always useful to have your one minute ‘elevator pitch’ on the tip of your tongue, just in case you get an opportunity to tempt someone with your idea. .
As well as serious events during the day, Wildscreen is famous for its social events in the evening – each one is a great chance for networking and meeting people. Monday night – Parthenon party, Tuesday night – big debate on climate change, followed by drinks, Wednesday – Awards Ceremony and black tie dinner, Thursday Indies Party.
During any spare downtime between events throughout the week, there was a video library available to all delegates. Any of the films submitted to the festival were available to watch, and I tried to make time to see as many as possible.
Films which were most talked about during the festival and make a big impact include:
Exhuming Adams – winner of the BBC Newcomer Award, produced by students at University of Otago, New Zealand. The story of a native mistletoes which mysteriously disappeared from New Zealand over fifty years ago. An exciting forensic investigation reveals a lethal chain of seemingly unrelated events which led to its extinction. Who would have thought a film about an extinct plant would be captivating?
Grizzly Man – Werner Herzog’s documentary for Discovery explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife conservationist Timothy Treadwell. This film looks at the delicate relationship between man and wild nature as it follows Treadwell’s annual three-month expeditions to Alaska where he lived among the grizzlies. At times this film is more a fascinating investigation into Timothy’s own wild psyche as he believed the grizzles accepted him as one of them and loved him as much as he loved them. After 13 years ‘protecting’ the bears, the crusade ended when he and his girlfriend were attacked and killed by a rogue grizzly in October 2003.
Meerkat Manor – a soap opera with a difference, this series follows twelve inch high characters – each meerkat is known individually thanks to a long-term research study, and this series enables us to get to know each character as well as in any human soap opera. But they are not acting – their behaviour, threats, conflicts and relationships all unfold for real.
Paranormal Pigeons – an Icon Film documentary for Ch5/Animal Planet, this documentary tackles the complex subject of animal navigation, but in no ordinary way. Combining humour with real but wacky science, this film is intriguing and captivating. From pigeon fanciers to weird and wonderful scientific theories, which is fact?
Cherub of the Mist – winner of the Wildscreen Award for filmmakers from developing countries, this film was made by Indian Bedi Films, following the rare red panda. The first two captive bred red pandas are released back into the wild and the filmmakers manage to capture the first ever footage of wild pandas mating and giving birth.
For more information go to www.wildscreenfestival.org
Although the delegate passes are expensive, there are concessions for newcomers under 30, and also people who have previsouly worked at the festival as volunteers. I’m really grateful for PMP helping me to attend Wildscreen this year.
