A burning subject

Climate change isn't normally a subject to get the pulse racing but a documentary maker has managed to snare the attention of Hollywood celebrities with her film. Brisbane filmmaker Cathy Henkel's unique take on the issue in The Burning Season captured the interest of Al Gore, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hugh Jackman, who offered to narrate the documentary after watching it.

I, along with my pal Rickis, managed to get a sneak peek at the critically acclaimed film at the premiere on Friday night as part of the annual Gold Coast Film Fantastic. Inspired by An Inconvenient Truth, Henkel's documentary follows the journey of young entrepreneur, Dorjee Sun, who travels the globe in pursuit of a carbon trading deal that could protect millions of hectares of rainforest, save the orangutan from extinction - and make his fortune.

Movie Mazzupial spoke with Henkel at the after-party and she explained the story was physically and emotionally draining for the her, having to travel to some of the most remote rainforests in the world to shoot the film and capture the effects of the Indonesian forest fires.
"In some ways this was easier to make then my previous film because I was out of the film and behind the camera,'' she said.
"But it was difficult because I had to chase him (Dorjee) around the world, to very remote locations and to America when all the time I wasn't sure he would succeed.
"The amount of time and passion and effort you have to invest in something when you don't know how its going to turn out because it's real life, not fiction, can be demanding.''

Henkel ran up six credit cards to finance the film which she said has included many highlights of her life.
"It definitely presented its own set of challenges and obstacles but there were also some really wonderful times in Borneo,'' she said.
"Getting to see the orangutan's is an absolute highlight of my life.
"During filming with the orangutan's we were emotional all the time, they're so beautiful and when they reach out to you it's in a very human kind of way.''

Above: Henkel with narrator Hugh Jackman

There have been no shortage of celebrities willing to get behind the film with Henkel being invited to a climate change conference by Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Gore praising the film. The Burning Season also sold out screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and Sydney Film Festival earlier this year and is being distributed worldwide. Aussie superstar Hugh Jackman was so moved after watching The Burning Season he offered to lend to his talents to narrate the film.
"Every year there is one outstanding documentary that you can not miss, that people will talk about because of its significance to the planet's future,'' he said.
"This year, The Burning Season is that documentary.''
The audience was treated to a special video introduction to the film by Jackman at the Gold Coast premiere.

I also highly recommend you check out the dissection and review of the film by the always incredible Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton from ABC’s At The Movies HERE.