Moment of Clarity...update!

Louise and I entered “A Moment of Clarity...” in the 6th Annual Montana CINE International Film Festival. While our film was not selected to screen during CINE’s festival week, it was recognized by the preliminary review panel with an Honorable Mention for Creative Approach.

Huzzah!

Update time!

Sarah works for NHNZ Ltd (Natural History New Zealand) in Dunedin and has finished her first episode as Story Producer for Animal Planets Orangutan Island!!! And has recently returned from a trip with the Department of Conservation, The Royal Society and the Royal New Zealand Navy to the Subantarctic Islands where she was shooting a short film - watch this space!

Louise has spent the last few months in the UK, Thailand and Japan and after a brief stop at home her next stop is India where she'll help Uni students in Ladakh to show their world through film.

Diploma film breaks America!!!

"A Moment of Clarity..." has been accepted into the 2008 American Conservation Film Festival!
Their mission is to promote outstanding films and the arts that educate and inspire people to become engaged in conservation. The American Conservation Film Festival is an annual event held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, a vibrant arts community 70 miles west of the nation's capital. The ACFF features films from a diverse group of conservation filmmakers from around the world.
Hurray!!!

Diploma Film hits Canada!

We have just found out that "A Moment of Clarity" has been selected for screening in the 9th annual Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival, which takes place October 22nd-26th in Toronto. (http://www.planetinfocus.org/)

Thats our 4th festival! AND our Canadian Premiere!

Help us get to Wildscreen - and own your own copy of the movie!

Taken during the editing experience - yes we had gone mad!

"A Moment of Clarity..." DVD includes:

a gallery of the film-making process, directors' commentaries, a trailer, a recycled-card, hand-made cover (save the trees), music video, our love and a shocked, yet flattered, expression of gratitude...

And we will be putting all the money we make from sales to getting us to Bristol (all the way from Dunedin - it costs a lot!) for the Wildscreen International Film Festival in October...

Please order generously! Please order on the right of the page :)

****Wildscreen Nomination!!!! ****

"A Moment of Clarity..." has been selected for a Jury's Special Selection for Screening at the International Wildlife and Environmental Film Festival 2008 Wildscreen! We are both stoked and cannot believe that we have gotten into such a prestigous festival!

Louise on location - and just a little cold!

I (Sarah), now work as a production assistant at Dunedin’s NHNZ Ltd., and Louise, who works as an assistant director at Wellington’s Red Sky Film & TV Ltd., made the film in 2007 while we were students at Otago University Natural History Filmmaking and Communication course.

Sarah enjoying the editing process

Our 24 minute documentary will be screened at the film festival which will be held in Bristol from October 19-24. Organisers say entries have increased dramatically this year with a wide range of films submitted from 44 countries.

We both think that the nomination is “amazing” for us and our supporters, including people directly involved such as Alison Ballance, Ben Truman, Chris Miller and the Department of Conservation without whom the film would have been very different.

The nomination means the film is also eligible for the highly sought after Judge’s Choice Award and is up against prestigous filmmakers.


Lu - "It's a bonus to have a New Zealand specific film make the final selection. Taking the risk of going slightly off the beaten track for a natural history film paid off for us in the end. I am still in disbelief about the nomination and have my fingers crossed that we will be able to head over and meet other filmmakers.”

We are now attempting to raise the funds needed to attend the festival.


The Wildscreen Festival was founded by Sir Peter Scott in 1982 and has been organised every other year for the past 25 years. It attracts hundreds of delegates from around the globe who work in film, television and the press, as well as those actively involved in working to conserve the environment. The main components of the Festival are the Panda Awards and a trade show. The Festival is organised by UK-based charity Wildscreen, which runs a number of initiatives

that use the power of film and photography to inspire conservation.

Portions of this article have been taken from press release, from Michelle Budge, NHNZ Ltd.

To contact us for more info please email us at salufilms@gmail.com

SCINEMA 2008 FESTIVAL OF SCIENCE FILM

This is our second festival to be accepted into, knocking our socks off to say the least!


http://www.csiro.au/scinema/images/scinema04.wmv


Dear Sarah and Louise,

After receiving a record number of entries for SCINEMA Festival of Science Film this year, it has taken us a little while, but we have finally come up with a program for our 2008 Festival.

I am pleased to announce that your film A Moment of Clarity has been selected for Official Competition in SCINEMA 2008 Festival of Science Film.

Your film will be assessed by our Jury of science and film industry peers, Chaired by Wilson Da Silva, Editor of Cosmos Magazine, and winners will be announced on the closing night of our Festival, August 24.

Your film has further been selected to screen as part of our travelling film festival. While venues are still being confirmed, in 2006 our travelling film festival screened in 90 cities around Australia, New Zealand and the UK to an audience of over 10,000.

Information about the festival will go up on our website www.csiro.au/scinema soon, and an announcement will be made about our competing films for 2008.

Unlikely friends...

A screenshot of a Mohua from our film

It is an unlikely partnership - the predatory New Zealand falcon and the endangered mohua - but they are thriving side by side.

The falcon, a species in gradual decline, and the mohua (yellowhead) are benefiting from a predator control programme in the Catlins River Walk area of the Catlins Forest Park in Southland.

It has not been an easy road for either species, something this reporter and photographer can appreciate after a trek to their home territory last week. Accompanied by Department of Conservation ranger Graeme Loh, the promised 1km walk turned into a four-hour hike - and there were no birds to be found.

However, just as we began the walk home, we heard a falcon's angry chatter - protesting at strangers in its territory - and experienced its dive bombing skills first-hand.

Mr Loh said the increase in falcons in the area seemed to be the by-product of increased predator control.

A programme, funded by Operation Ark, aimed to give mohua an increased chance of survival by eliminating stoats, and Animal Health Board 1080 poisoning directed at eradicating possums also took out rats. Stoats were known to attack falcons' nests, which were often on the ground.

Falcons traditionally laid three eggs but normally produced only two chicks. While falcons were predators themselves - females fed on birds and males on insects - they seemed to prefer exotic birds to the mohua, Mr Loh said.

Falcons, whose stronghold was Otago, were strangely absent from the park in the 1980s, he said.

It was 1996 when he first came across a falcon in the area. Numbers had slowly increased to the point where last summer DoC discovered four nests. So far this summer three had been found. Operation Ark was a DoC initiative started in 2003 to ensure the survival of mohua and other endangered species.

(http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10475360)

Teaser Trailer for the movie!

Let us know what you think!

"A Moment of Clarity..." hits Palmy North!!

Dear all!

Louise will be visiting Palmerston North for the AEFF festival this weekend on behalf of our film - anybody in the area that is interested in seeing our film (along with Katie's, Pip's and Jinty's) check this link out to see how!

Good Luck Lu!

Emerging Otago Filmmakers!!!

From AEFF 2007 :

"Four emerging filmmaking talents from Otago are jumpstarting theircareers at Reel Earth - the Aotearoa Environmental Film Festival. "These four newcomers are set to make an impression, two have already won awards in a competitive field" says Festival director Brent Barrett.

All four have recently emerged from Otago University's Natural History Filmmaking Course run by professor Lloyd Davis, and enjoyed a sold out premiere in Dunedin.

First up is top award winner Katie McSweeney with her film "Bluffed",which takes a clear look at the world's most famous bed of oysters,pealing back the sheets of denial put forward by industry and regulators....

"We're pleased to also host the first runner-up Louise Davidson" says Barrett. Louise and her partner Sarah Cowhey recently took out the award for their creative animated documentary 'A Moment of Clarity...' that explores the mind and madness inside one of New Zealand's top backcountry killers - the rat.

Rounding out the top place-getters are visits from Jinty MacTavish and Pip Walls....

This quartet of emerging talent is joined by maverick Australian filmmaker David Bradbury who travels to Palmerston North from the Gold Coast to introduce the New Zealand premiere of his award winning 2007 film 'A Hard Rain'......

The Festival opens in Palmerston North at the end of July, and is set to tour nation wide. The Festival is online at www.aeff.org.nz, and is supported by Creative Communities New Zealand, the Palmerston North City Environmental Trust, and Eastern & Central Community Trust."

DVD NOW AVAILABLE
So sorry to sound like an ad, but we have had quite a few people wanting to get a copy of the DVD so it is probably best to answer the question before you ask it.

Yes, you can get a special DVD of
"A Moment of Clarity..."
DVD includes:

• a gallery of the film-making process
• directors' commentaries
• a trailer
• a recycled-card, hand-made cover and a reused envelope - yes, a reused envelope! (save the trees)
  
• maybe a wee music video *HUSH HUSH*
• our love and a shocked, yet flattered, expression of gratitude

Just email us at salufilms@gmail.com if you are interested in getting your dirty lil' mitts on a copy, or leave a comment on this post
(or both as WE LOVE COMMENTS)

Our first festival!

"A Moment of Clarity..." has been accepted as an Official Selection for the 2007 Reel Earth: The Aotearoa Environmental Film Festival held 26–29 July 2007 in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

WHOOT WHOOT!

"Step inside the twisted mind of an angst ridden killer... the exotic rat. Rattus is forced to come to terms with the present in a NZ Southern Beech Forest, where the ecology dictates sustainability, and who comes out on top. See the forest through the eyes of Rattus, from the oldest beech to the youngest bird. The fresh perspective redefines the beauty of our Southern forests, and draws into question just who belongs where in New Zealand today."

Check out the site here (scroll down to the bottom of the page for ours :) )

Drum Roll.....

The trailer for "A Moment of Clarity..." - Hope you like it!

The Premiere, Regent Theatre, Dunedin

Here are some photo's of Sarah and Lu at the PGDip NHFC Premiere of "A Moment Of Clarity..." at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin on the 9th of June. Enjoy!

Lu and Sarah with their Executive Producer Alison Ballance from NHNZ. Ltd

Lu and Sarah with their narrator Ben Truman from the Uni's Theatre Studies Dept.

The Regent Theatre

Publicity Stills

A still of the animation we used to enhance our story

One of our main characters : Nothofagus fusca, NZ's Red Beech Tree

Louise hard at work!

Film Synopsis

A Moment of Clarity…

To understand where you live, is to understand if you belong.

An introduced predator, Rattus rattus, is forced to come to terms with the current way
of life in a New Zealand Southern Beech Forest, where the ecology dictates sustainability.

Rattus rattus will show you how he sees the forest he calls home, from the 600 years old beech trees to the tiny root fungus. The astounding beauty of the forest, home to many native birds and insects, is shown from a fresh perspective, letting you question our preconceived opinions, seeing unexpected similarities between our ‘enemies’ and us, while exploring a complex ecology.

Tagline...

To understand where you live, is to understand if you belong.

Movie Artwork!

coming soon....(9th of June actually!)