A burning subject
Sunday, August 2, 2009
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.
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There have been rumours circulating since Marvel created their own studio to independently produce their creations and those rumours appeared to have some substance when Downey Jnr had a cameo in The Incredible Hulk. Marvel Studios today confirmed The Avengers movie is in pre-production and Jon Favreau is on board to direct. Favreau did a stellar job of directing the first Iron Man film and is also set to direct the rest of the franchise. Sounds like a hefty work load for the writer/director/actor but he’ll be backed up by an awesome support team in the form of Louis D'Esposito, Stan Lee, David Maisel and Denis Stewart. Phew. Admittedly I’m getting really sick of comic book to film adaptations and it seriously feels like every second movie was originally a comic or graphic novel. Be original folks and create some new shit! But (and there is a but) I’m looking forward to The Avengers mainly because it’s a classic and one of the most recognised comics of all time. Those of you unfamiliar with The Avengers, here’s a quick run down. First created in 1963 by the legendary Stan Lee, The Avengers features some of Marvels key characters who unite to create a unique crime fighting unit. Originally founded and majorly funded by Tony Stark other characters in the unit include The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, The Black Widow, Spider Man, The Fanatstic Four and more. Whether some of these characters will appear in the film adaption is yet to be known but other team members in The Avengers have included Wolverine, Storm, Daredevil, Electra, The Punisher and tonnes of other lesser known characters. Only Edward Norton’s version of the Hulk, Captain America and Thor have been confirmed to be in the film version which is scheduled for release on July 15, 2011. The Iron Man sequel will be in theatres on May 7, 2010. Both will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Hugh Jackman will be back to reprise his role as Wolverine and