WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nat Geo WILD, in partnership with the Sun Valley Film Festival (SVFF) and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), announced today the four finalists of the second annual WILD TO INSPIRE filmmaking competition. The finalists will all travel to the Sun Valley Film Festival for a special screening of their short films on Thursday, March 5, and the winner will be announced at the festival’s Awards Bash on Saturday, March 7. The winning filmmaker will travel to Africa to document wildlife for Nat Geo WILD viewers. There will also be a special screening of “The Corridor,” a short from last year’s WILD TO INSPIRE winner, Dan Duran, which he put together based on his trip to Africa last November.
Starting in November, participants were asked to submit a short film showcasing their own version of Destination Wild. Full of awe-inspiring scenery and wildlife, Nat Geo WILD’s Destination Wild specials feature the best, most innovative wildlife storytelling from some of the greatest filmmakers in the world.
Finalists were selected based on wildlife stories and moments from their own lives, whether on their travels or in their own backyards. Films were judged on their connection to the Destination Wild theme, quality and creativity of the script, production and editing. The ultimate goal was to turn footage into something that will captivate viewers and inspire them to let the wild in every day.
“This year’s finalists embody the ‘wild’ spirit of the competition and their films are truly inspirational,” said Geoff Daniels, executive vice president and general manager for Nat Geo WILD. “The Sun Valley Film Festival is the perfect showcase for these imaginative films.”
The WILD TO INSPIRE Finalists include:
- Filipe is a freelance cinematographer and producer who travels the country shooting time lapses and wildlife. He studied film and wildlife ecology & conservation at the University of Florida.
- In “Adapt” a filmmaker finds his voice through a camera and his salvation in nature.
“Living Isle” by Alex Goetz (Toledo, OH)
- Alex has been the videographer for the Toledo Zoo for two years. In addition to creating educational and promotional materials for the zoo, he also creates short films on wildlife and conservation efforts.
- “Living Isle” spotlights a chain of islands known as the Cayos Cohinos, where the Garifuna people have lived virtually the same way since the 1700s using traditional fishing methods.
“Northern” by Jake Lamons (Kalamazoo, MI)
- Jake lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he is studying Digital Cinema at Northern Michigan University
- “Northern” shows the beauty of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan through the eyes of a Northern Michigan University student.
“Not on Our Watch: Keeping the Congo’s Gorillas From Extinction” by Austin Haeberle and Wendy Jacques (New York, NY)
- Austin is an independent digital journalist who reports on human rights, conservation and development. He won a Peabody Award for “Beyond Borders: Personal Stories from a Small Planet”. Wendy is a journalist and multimedia educator who produces films on conservation and human rights. She also facilitates digital storytelling workshops in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East with thedigitalcanopy.net.
- “Not on Our Watch” takes us to the Republic of the Congo, where Mobie Prime and his team of “eco-guards” at the Lesio-Louna Natural Forest are helping to save the local gorilla population from extinction.
The films will be screened by judges from Nat Geo WILD, AWF, SVFF, Huffington Post Green, Earth Touch and Vice to name the ultimate winner. The winner will travel to Africa to share their wildlife adventure through a variety of media, including video diaries, photos, social media and more, as part of an online companion to Nat Geo WILD’s signature Sunday night nature series, Destination Wild.
For more information, including contest rules, visit natgeowild.com/wildtoinspire.
About Nat Geo WILD
For more than 30 years, National Geographic has been the leader in wildlife programming. The networks Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo WILD HD, launched in 2010, offer intimate encounters with nature’s ferocious fighters and gentle creatures of land, sea and air that draw upon the cutting-edge work of the many explorers, filmmakers and scientists of the National Geographic Society. Part of the National Geographic Channels US, based in Washington, D.C., the networks are a joint venture between National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks. In 2001, National Geographic Channel (NGC) debuted, and 10 years later, Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo was unveiled. The Channels have carriage with all of the nation’s major cable, telco and satellite television providers, with Nat Geo WILD currently available in 57 million U.S. homes. Globally, Nat Geo WILD is available in more than 187 million homes in 140 countries and 28 languages. For more information, visit www.natgeowild.com.
About the Sun Valley Film Festival
The Fourth Annual Sun Valley Film Festival, taking place March 4-8, 2015, features a curated slate of more than 60 cutting-edge films and TV premieres, engaging coffee talks with industry insiders like Bruce Dern and Bill Paxton, fabulous parties and panels, a Screenwriters Lab led by award-winning writers Jim Rash and Nat Faxon and a spectacular awards bash with musical guest The Weeks. This coming spring, filmmakers from around the world will bring their vision to the Sun Valley Film Festival, and movie lovers are invited to watch it come into focus. For festival details and tickets, visit www.sunvalleyfilmfestival.org. Get festival updates on Facebook and Twitter.
About the African Wildlife Foundation
Founded in 1961, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is a leading conservation organization focused solely on the African continent. AWF’s programs and conservation strategies are based on sound science and designed to protect both the wild lands and wildlife of Africa and ensure a more sustainable future for Africa’s people. Since its inception, AWF has protected endangered species and land, promoted conservation enterprises that benefit local African communities, and trained hundreds of African nationals in conservation — all to ensure the survival of Africa’s unparalleled wildlife heritage. AWF is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Kenya and registered as a 501(c)(3) in the United States. For more information, visit www.awf.org and follow us on Twitter @AWF_Official and Facebook at facebook.com/AfricanWildlifeFoundation.
