\n\tIs it a science doc? Is it a travel essay? Is it a political film? No, it is Super Nature, a global love letter to nature! And it may remind you a bit of your old family home movies \u2013 if you\u2019re old enough, that is.<\/p>\n
Visual and auditory beauty rather than stats and data are in focus in the film from director Ed Sayers in his feature debut. The Super 8 images (Super Nature \u2013 get it!?) that they collected from around the world flutter across the screen to remind us of the marvels of nature and wildlife and why they deserve protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you make a film about the natural world that\u2019s environmentally sound?\u201d reads a synopsis on the website of the\u00a069th edition<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0BFI\u00a0London Film Festival<\/a>\u00a0(LFF).where the movie world premiered on Sunday. \u201cThe solution is a community film spanning continents. Sending cameras to his contributors, Sayers edited together a mosaic of intimate observations of natural landscapes, creating a lush and deeply personal paean to nature, and a truly engrossing cinematic experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayers\u2019 background is in directing and producing commercials and music videos. His first short film,\u00a0Goldfish, featured Michael Fassbender.\u00a0<\/p>\n A Seven Productions and Grasp the Nettle Films production, the movie was co-produced by Forest of Black. It was financed by the BFI Doc Society Fund (awarding National Lottery funding), Screen Scotland, Cinelab Film and Digital, Foghorn Features, and Autlook Filmsales, which is handling international<\/a> sales. The producers are Rebecca Wolff, who runs Grasp the Nettle Films,\u00a0Sayers, and Beth Allan, plus executive producer Asif Kapadia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n BFI Distribution just picked up Super Nature for theatrical release in the U.K. and Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sayers and producer Wolff talked to THR\u2018s Georg Szalai about building a community around film and nature and focusing on hope rather than fear.<\/p>\n \n\tSuper Nature is less about scary facts and figures and more about making people feel something. Tell me a bit about that approach you chose<\/strong> and your deal with BFI Distribution!<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWolff<\/strong> BFI Distribution is an amazing partner. They\u2019re going to open the film at the BFI South Bank and then open it as widely as possible around the U.K. and Ireland. It\u2019s such a beautiful film to see on the big screen. So we\u2019re really pleased. They\u2019re really passionate about bringing films to the big screen. <\/p>\n \n\tSayers<\/strong> They are the perfect fit, and they\u2019re keen to go to the multiplexes. They feel that the film has obvious slices of audiences \u2013 they are the film lovers, the celluloid lovers, and the nature lovers. They genuinely have a desire, like we do, to get this film to the widest audience and get it talked about over the breakfast table.<\/p>\n \n\tOur hope is, and I say this humbly, that it will just remind people of that ever more tenuous connection we have with nature. And if anyone goes away from seeing our film just feeling they just want to do a little bit more to nurture that all-important relationship \u2013 like all relationships, it needs to be looked after \u2013 we might start moving to a better place. We just want to do our little bit for the conversation. Especially because our conversation today is so divided on every matter.<\/p>\n \n\tHow has the reception been in the LFF cinemas?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWolff<\/strong> We had the world premiere, and the atmosphere in the room afterwards was really peaceful, with a lot of love for the film and what it was saying. People were just feeling very emotional in a really positive way, even though some cried.<\/p>\n \n\tSayers<\/strong> It\u2019s doing something that we wouldn\u2019t have dared to hope. And I\u2019m feeling, reading through all the messages, that it\u2019s touching people in a way beyond their conscious feelings. And that\u2019s what we want. I really feel that this is about connection.<\/p>\n \n\tHow did you think about the balance between focusing on facts, warnings, or encouragement?<\/strong> Despite some of the scary trends affecting nature, the film isn\u2019t a dire warning, but more of an appreciation\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWolff<\/strong> Ed had the inspiration for this film, and we really wanted to do a thing that was talking about what we\u2019re fighting for rather than what we\u2019re fighting against. And that was really early in our hearts to bring to it a sense of celebration.<\/p>\n \n\tSayers<\/strong> Yeah, it was about finding connection. And we really wanted to celebrate people where they were and their connection to nature. So it was about the people and about their connection to nature all over the world.<\/p>\n \n\tYou were really ambitious to make it feel like a truly global<\/strong> tapestry. I read there were 40 Super 8 collaborators, both professional filmmakers and local enthusiasts, in 25 countries across five continents.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tSayers<\/strong> It\u2019s an incredibly international film, and it was really important to us that it was a positive film that brought you active hope, that made you feel that you can make a change, and that didn\u2019t make it overwhelming and big.<\/p>\n \n\tJane Goodall, who just died, talked very much about what we can all do, and how every moment of every day we\u2019re making an impact on the world, and we can choose whether it\u2019s positive or negative. And that was so important to us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Is it a science doc? Is it a travel essay? Is it a political film? 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