Two
novice Kiwi filmmakers have won top honours at the world's third
largest wildlife film festival, beating the likes of the BBC and
National Geographic.
Wairarapa documentary maker James Muir won the top overall award and Best Environmental Film for his film River Dog
and 17-year-old Wellington high school student Natasha Bishop was
awarded Best Animation at the Japan Wildlife Film Festival last night.
For both, the awards have been an affirmation of their abilities as filmmakers.
Biologist turned documentary maker Mr Muir says he
went to bed thinking he hadn't won, but received a call from his dad
Grant, the subject of the documentary who was in Japan for the awards,
giving him the good news.
The film documents Mr Muir's father's struggle to protect the Pahaoa River in the Wairarapa which runs through his farm.
Three neighbouring farmers had been "belligerently" polluting the river by grazing more cattle on the water’s edge, he says.
The film sought to showcase how important freshwater resources were.
Mr Muir says his film "crossed that bridge" between
art and science and the win was an affirmation he had "got the recipe
right".
This is the 12th award the documentary has won both in New Zealand and overseas.
3 News
Online Reporter
Monday 12 Aug 2013 5:13p.m.
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