ABS FILM CATALOG v. 5.0/2002
NOTE: At this time, the films listed are those that have been selected for viewing during the ABS film festivals from 1995-2002. A distributor code for each film is indicated at the right-hand margin, e.g., WNET.
AFRICA’S FORGOTTEN ELEPHANTS WNET
A Scorer Association production for BBC/WNET13, 1997, (50 min.)
Despite their large, lumbering image, elephants are surprisingly adaptable and can be found in dense rainforests, parched deserts, on tropical beaches and even icy mountains. Cynthia Moss, who has spent more than 25 years in Kenya studying the elephants of Amboselli National Park, now wants to find out how elephants survive in such diverse habitats. In the rainforest of Central Africa, Andrea Turkalo has studied the small, and highly secretive forest elephants for seven years. These legendary pygmy elephants are probably nothing more than adolescent males that have developed tusks precociously early.
Cynthia joins Blythe Loutit to observe the desert elephants of the remote Skeleton Coast of south-west Africa, where the harsh life is reflected in a decreased rate of calf production. In contrast , Eve Abe reports that the elephants of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, once reduced by 90 %, are now experiencing a noted increase in its reproductive success. Cynthia also observes the elephants of the Atlantic coast of Gabon, who use their trunks as “snorkels” when crossing mangrove lagoons, and reports on the mountain elephants of the slopes of Mount Kenya.
Producer: Brian Leith
ABS Semifinalist, 1998
ANIMAL MINDS
National Geographic Television, 1994 (28 min.) NGT
Pet owners have sworn for years that their animal companions are thinking and feeling. This film examines the work of scientists investigating this point of view. In doing so, some very complex and flexible behaviors among a variety of animals are shown, from an African gray parrot that solves logic problems to a chimpanzee entertaining herself by making faces in a mirror. We may not be the only creatures to solve problems with mental pictures, fashion tools, make sounds to communicate, or be creative.
Producer: John Rubin; Photographers: Michael DeGruy, Doug Bertran, & Robert Elfstom
ABS Semifinalist, 1996
ASPCA PET CHECK ASP
ASPCA & will-tv, 2000 (3 min.)
This is a 16 segment series syndicated on Public Television and currently being shown across the country. The featured segment concerns playing with your pet, and illustrates the value of public education in applied animal behavior.
Producers: Stephen
Zawistowski, ASPCA & Carl Caldwell, WILL-TV, U. Illinois
Photographer: Henry Szujewski, WILL-TV, U. Illinois
ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2001
Attenborough in Paradise
BBC Natural History Unit, 1996 (56 min.) BBC
Birds of Paradise are often considered the most beautiful and spectacular of all creatures. Sir David Attenborough has had a passion for these wonders since he was a little boy. In this film he shows the remarkable display behavior of 14 species of paradise and bowerbirds. The result is a wonderful film which is full of color and revelation as the many elaborate courtship behaviors exhibited by these birds were so artfully captured. The rich variety courtship displays in this film are outstanding.
Producer: Paul Reddish
ABS Semifinalist, 1997
BABOON TALES BFF
Tamarin Productions, 1998 (52 min.)
Bullfrog Films, Distributor
The film, “Baboon Tales,” examines the extensive research on the Olive Baboons of White Rocks on the Laikipia Plateau of central Kenya that has been conducted by Shirley Strum over the past 26 years. With 25 years of observations, Dr. Strum has shown that brute force wasn’t the only way that adult males gained dominance. Instead the process of exchanging “favours” was another means of maintaining one’s social status and keeping the peace. To show the complexities of baboon society, the film follows the early lives of several newborns, who vary in personality and in privilege through their other’s social position in the troop. Award-winning producer/director, Gillian Kovanic, and Emmy-nominated photographer, Rudolf Kovanic, combined their talents to provide a remarkable film the depicts the development of social skills in the young, the difficulties of maintaining social status in adults, and the cooperative efforts of the entire troop to defend the “sleeping” ledges of White Rocks.
Producer: Gillian Kovanic
Photographer: Rudi Kovanic
ABS Semifinalist, 1999
BABY GORILLAS: A GORILLA FAMILY PORTRAIT WLD
Wildsight Productions, Inc., 1992 (59 min)
For 35 years, the Columbus Zoo has been home to a very special family of Western Lowland gorillas and a gorilla program. This program tells of life in the “family” – sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always compelling. Through the eyes of the keepers and the gorillas, the Columbus Zoo’s gorilla family heritage is traced back four generations and personal stories of the gentle giants is explored. With current and archival footage dating back to the 1950’s we see how the Zoo keepers struggle with their own abilities to do the right thing for each animal in their care. Viewers can see how potent a respectful relationship between keepers and gorillas is and how it can be rewarding for both parties when established.
Producer : Deborah Rivel
Photographer: Dan Friedman
ABS Semifinalist, 2001
BALTIC SECRETS: THE INVINCIBLE WOLF GUL
Green Umbrella Ltd., 2001 (52 min)
Here we present a video with a strong conservation message on wolves in the Baltics. There are less than 1,000 wolves remaining in the Baltics today, primarily due to hunting, concern over livestock, and fear for people’s safety. This video focuses on how humans can live with wolves, and documents some progress in that direction. A number of other interesting animals are presented, including the European lynx, black grouse mating, flying squirrels, black storks, moose, wild boar, European beaver, the pond terrapin and European bison.
Producer: Nick Upton
ABS bEST FILM awARD, 2002
Beetlemania
Green Umbrella Ltd., 1996 (50 min.) BBC
One in four kinds of animal on earth is a beetle! No other creatures begin to match their diversity, range of size, colour or form. They are built like tanks, have weapons to match, yet can still fly; but as biologists like Tom Eisner reveal, chemistry is the true secret of beetle success. In reality, they are truly remarkable and intriguing creatures. The fact that they are yielding highly promising new medicines proves a powerful reason to conserve their species and their rainforest homes.
This film starts off with a little science fiction humor; however, it goes on to portray the remarkable diversity of species and their adaptations. Their chemical defense systems, modes of communication and reproduction, and aspects of mate competition are excellently captured via close-up and time-lapse photography.
Producer: Nick Upton
ABS Semifinalist, 1997
THE CALL OF THE KAKADU DCP
David Curl, 1996 (50 min)
Kakadu is a vast wilderness in Australia that is ruled by lightning and fire, by drought and flood – and it is the scene of a tale of a blue-winged kookaburra. Also included are scenes of crocodiles, parrots, kangaroos and frill-necked lizards woven together with the tale of the struggle for survival of the youngest of three kookaburra nestlings.
Producer: David Curl
ABS Semifinalist, 2001
CHIMPANZEE GROOMING AS SOCIAL CUSTOM UCE
University of California Extension, 2000 (9 min.)
This video illustrates chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) behavioral patterns that occur during individual and social grooming. These patterns include: self-scratch, self-groom, social groom, grooming hand-clasp, and social scratch. The first three patterns are chimpanzee universals whereas the grooming hand-clasp is observed in some but not all chimpanzee communities, and the final pattern, social scratch, appears to be unique to the M-group of chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. They suggest that social scratch is a social custom and is a new addition to the growing list of cultural patterns attributed to the chimpanzee.
Producer & Photographer: Linda Marchant
ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2001
Taurus Productions, Inc. & Thirteen/WNET, 2001 (60 min)
This video documents the life history of wild stallions in the Rocky Mountains by focusing on one stallion from birth
through the first five years of life. It includes hardships such as predator pressure, harsh winters, government
roundups, infanticide and a deadly lightning strike. It also illustrates the battle amongst males to obtain mares, and
thus would be useful as a tool to describe male-male competition
Producers: Ginger Kathrens, Taurus Productions & Fred Kaufman, Thirteen/WNET
ABS Semifinalist, 2002
A COMPLETE TOUR OF THE HENRY DOORLY ZOO RHP
Robert H. Horton, 1998 (18 min.)
This video takes you on a tour of the Henry Doorly Zoo, including feeding time, sneak peaks at animals you may have missed on our visit there, and footage of zoo visitors enjoying the facility. This film has no narration, but gives viewers beautiful images of animal and human behavior. This is a nice example of the breadth of our Jack Ward Memorial Competition.
Producer & Photographer: Robert H. Horton
ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2001
CORAL REEFS: THEIR EVOLUTION AND REPRODUCTION
New Dimension Media/HIT Production, (27 min.) NDM
This film covers the geological development a and history of the coral reef systems, revealing for the first time the amazing and well kept secret of the underwater reproduction process of the coral community. Until recently, the synchronous spawning phenomenon remained undiscovered. Once a year, within just a few hours, the reproduction process of numerous coral species takes place. This colorful and outstandingly brilliant program traces the sequence of reproduction events and highlights coral evolution and the survival strategies that have enable them to create such splendid reef ecosystems.
ABS Semifinalist, 1997
CRANES AND THE CENTRAL FLYWAY
Robert Horton Production, 1994 (20 min.) RHP
This film, a Jack Ward
Competition entry, has been produced and photographed by Robert Horton of Omaha.
Locally, he has been highly recognized; and for the past four years, he
has been commissioned by Nebraska Ducks Unlimited to present his work at their
annual state convention. His video production, Cranes and The Central
Flyway, is without narration. However, he has so carefully captured
and set to music the beauty and grace of the dancing cranes and many other
varieties of water fowl that narration would only serve as a distraction.
Producer and Photographer: Robert Horton
ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 1995
CROCODILE RIVER: THE TIDES OF KIRAWIRA
Survival Anglia Production, 1994 (50 min.) SVA
Rain sweeps over the great herds of wildebeest on the Serengeti plains. Days later, a flash flood races along a sandy river-bed, which becomes again the living Grumeti River, a seasonal lifeline for all the creatures at Kirawira, and especially its giant crocodiles. The river will ebb away over the dry season, but the clams, crabs and fish have developed remarkable lifestyles to survive, until it floods again.
But as it dries on the plains, the great herds head out towards Kirawira. When the wildebeest arrive to play their part in the seasonal drama of the drying pools - primordial carnage reigns as the desperate herds try to drink at the crocodiles’ pools. However, the wildebeest will move on, leaving Kirawira in the grip of the seasonal drought.
Producers and Photographers: Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone
ABS Semifinalist, 1995
DOLPHIN DIARIES
BBC Natural History Unit, 1996 (50 min.) BBC
This film is the culmination of a ten year study of one group of Spotted Dolphins. The veneer of placid animals is stripped away to reveal a dolphin society which is both affectionate and violent. David Attenborough takes us into this dolphin world with scientist, Denise Herzing, Director of the Wild Dolphin Project, whose research rivals that of Jane Goodall . Extremes of dolphin behavior are depicted, e.g., a mother suckling her young, teaching it to catch fish, and reprimanding it by physically holding it down on the ocean floor. In addition, a violent dolphin fight is contrasted by
the sensitive nature of their courtship and social communication.
Producer: Mark Jacobs
ABS Semifinalist, 1997
EAGLE
Wildlife Special, BBC Natural History Unit, 1997 (48 min.) BBC
Literally riding on the back of the leading star, the golden eagle, this film embarks on a grand tour through 12 countries, and encounters 15 of the world’s species of eagles. Fly alongside these kings of the air, thanks to filming techniques, first developed by producer John Downer, involving miniature cameras, model helicopters and gliders. In the Greek Mountains, golden eagles soar to great heights to drop tortoises like bombs to crack open these tightly sealed meals on legs. The awesome Philippine eagle stands over a meter high, is adorned with a startling crest of feathers, and captures monkeys to feed its chicks. In Australia, the wedgetail even attempts to hunt kangaroos; while in Malaysia, white-bellied Sea Eagles dive for poisonous sea snakes.
Producer: John Downer; Photography: Michael W. Richards; Aerial Photography: Geoffrey Bell
ABS Semifinalist, 1998
A FEW ACORNS MORE
Oxford Scientific Films production for The National Geographic Society, 1997, (27 min) OSF
This is the story of gang warfare, murder, cannibalism, uncontrolled greed, group sex and ethnic cleansing. It is also a story about beautiful, tender individuals and acts of selfless courage and heroism. The stars of this story are the members of a tight-knit community of Acorn Woodpeckers, as seen through the eyes of Walt Koenig, who has been studying these unusual birds for 20 years. The norm is a monogamous pair who own nothing more than the nest in which they sit. So why are Acorn Woodpeckers so different? Why are they obsessed with acorns? Why do they share sexual partners, and sometimes eat their own eggs or kill other’s fledglings? And why do youngsters stay to help their parents, instead of leaving and becoming parents themselves? The answers may be both alarming and astonishing.
Producer: Sean Morris; Photographer, Keith Brust
ABS Semifinalist, 1998
FIELD WORK IN MERU ‘99 OR: IN THE NAME OF THE NAKED MOLE RAT
A non-commercial entry for the Jack Ward Memorial Competition, 1999 (10 min.) NA
This short video (without narration) was produced and photographed by Rosie Koch as part of her research project on naked mole-rat coloration at the University of Tuebingen. Filmed in Mero National Park, Kenya, Rosie depicts a collage of the local wildlife and some aspects of the mole-rat tagging program.
Producer/photographer: Rosie Koch
FLIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
The New Explorer Series; Public Media, Inc., 1994 (30 min.) PMI
Bill Kurtis and Dr. James Grier of North Dakota State University climb an 80-foot tree in the woods of Ontario, Canada to band baby eaglets in their nest. This program examines the remarkably successful effort to repopulate the bald eagle, which nearly became extinct prior to the ban of DDT in 1972.
Executive Producer: Bill Kurtis
ABS Semifinalist, 1995
FOR QUEEN AND COLONY
The Natural World Series; BBC Natural History Unit, 1994 (50 min) BBC
The changing of the guard outside the queen’s residence - a new shift of workers clock on - nurses dash from baby to baby, checking each is fed and healthy. Not scenes from a human city, but the start of another day in a colony of bees and wasps. But these sophisticated societies have their origins amongst some of the most bizarre insects in the world including parasitic wasps that highjack the living bodies of other insects and beautiful jeweled wasps that neatly trim the antennae of cockroaches. This story of the development of insect societies is told using the latest techniques in macro-photography revealing a new side to familiar insects, some of which has never been seen by scientists.
Producer: Steve Nicholls
ABS Best Film Award, 1995
frogs: the movie
Survival Anglia, 1999 (50 min.) SVA
There are nearly 4000 known types of frogs and toads in the world. They live in nearly every types of habitat, from the tundra to the tropics, from desserts to grassy plains, from rushing streams to pockets of moisture in bromeliad cups. The variety of their shape and colour is remarkable, so too is the repertoire of songs, croaks, and buzzes, but their range of reproductive strategies is simply staggering. The film examines the role of cryptic and warning coloration, vocal communication, and various mating and parenting strategies. It also addresses the concerns about the declining number of amphibians.
Producer: Mike Linley
ABS Semifinalist, 2000
HARD AT PLAY AND FISH ON THE MENU: RIVER OTTERS AT THE ST. LOUIS ZOO KOC
Rosie Koch, 2001 (25 min)
This film is one of a series of 12 film to be used in a middle school curriculum on animal behavior at the
St. Louis Zoo. Stan Braude wrote the curriculum unit along with Carol Stephenson at the St. Louis Zoo
and Janet Crews, a teacher at Wydown Middle School. The curriculum unit teaches students how to
develop an ethogram and collect behavioral data. In order to familiarize the students with their study
animals before they visit the zoo, they choose one of the 12 species, view the film of that species, and
write up an ethogram for the species. They can view the film multiple times and the teacher may also
compare the ethograms of different students who observed the same species. They hope to make school
field trips to the zoo more focused educational experiences, and the films made by Rosie Koch are an
integral part of the curriculum. This film is a great example of education and outreach.
Producer: Rosie Koch
ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Semifinalist, 2002
HUMPBACK WHALE
Wildlife Special, BBC Natural History Unit, 1997, (50 min.) BBC
Few sounds are more beautiful or moving than the underwater songs of the humpback whale. Male whales compete with their songs, which often last for 10 minutes at a time, and can be repeated for hours on end. Whales separated by thousands of miles of sea will sing almost identical songs. Researchers have found that the songs change throughout the breeding months, following a mysterious pattern repeated across the waves. Whales also use sound to hunt. To catch herring, humpback whales release a stream of bubbles to form a shimmering, circular fishing net. Emitting a repetitive loud scream, they scare the fish into a tight ball, then lunge out of the water to swallow the shoal whole. Now it seems that the long-held image of the gentle giant must change to one of a ferocious and opportunistic hunter.
Producers: Andy Byatt and Rick Rosenthal; Photographer, Rick Rosenthal
ABS Semifinalist, 1998
ICE WHALES
Survival Anglia, 1999 (50 min.) SVA
The Arctic is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is also one of the most hostile. Very few mammals can survive this icy kingdom. In the sea, a trio of whales has conquered the killing cold of Arctic waters: the snow white beluga, the sixty-foot long bowhead and the narwhal famous for its bizarre unicorn-like tusk. This film shows for the first time a pair of bowheads mating as well as incredible scenes of eleven bowheads feeding in a v-shaped formation along the ice edge. Other stunning sequences include a beluga giving birth, male narwhals "jousting," amazing ice landscapes including the summer break-up in time lapse and underwater views of the ice pack. But what happens to the ice whales in the winter? Where they go or what they feed on remains a mystery.
Producer: Caroline Brett
Photographer: Thomas Fritz
ABS Semifinalist, 2000
IGUANAS LIVING LIKE DINOSAURS BBC
British Broadcasting Corp.& Animal Planet, 2002 (29 min)
This video illustrates the behavior of adult and juvenile green iguanas, and suggests that their behavior is a model for dinosaur behavior. It nicely documents the struggle for existence as less than 5% of green iguanas survive their first year of life. This struggle is highlighted throughout the film by explaining the purpose of juvenile peer groups, documenting potential predators, and showing the hardships necessary to obtain nourishment. The narration is by David Attenborough.
Producer: Mark Brownlow
ABS Semifinalist, 2002
INCREDIBLE SUCKERS
BBC Natural History Unit, 1996 (48 min.) BBC
David Attenborough narrates this remarkable film about the equally remarkable cephalopods, who are considered by some scientists as “primates of the sea.” Using “Homeboy,” a remotely operated submersible, film-maker Mike deGruy has photographed nautilus, as never seen before, in the depths off the coast of Guam. In addition, he has captured many of the colorful display patterns used for communication during social interactions among cuttlefish, squid and octopuses. See the “vampire squid from hell” which has never before been filmed alive and red octopuses that leave water to hunt.
Producer/photographer: Mike deGruy
ABS Semifinalist, 1997
KANGAROOS - FACES IN THE MOB
Green Cape Wildlife Films, 1992 (58 min.) GCW
This is an engaging true story of life within one group of wild Eastern Gray Kangaroos. Theirs is a rich, dynamic society, more sophisticated than ever imagined. Behind every face there is a personality. Follow the destinies of two youngsters, Sunshade and Jaffa, who belong to a mob of sixty kangaroos living in a valley of magical beauty on the east coast of Australia. Learn how they cope in wind, fire and rain. During the course of a year, see everything from birth to the dramatic and sometimes deadly contests between the males who fight their way up the hierarchy and jostle for mating.
Producers: Jan Aldenhoven & Glen Carruthers; Photographer: Glen Carruthers
ABS Semifinalist, 1996
LIVING WITH CHIMPANZEES: PORTRAIT OF A FAMILY
Flavia Fontes Productions, 1995 (52 min.) FLD
Here is the entertaining story of an unusual nuclear family, Roberta and Phil and the two chimpanzees they have adopted, Charlie and his half sister Casey. It shows the joys and challenges of life with our closest primate relatives. It investigates their adaptive abilities when removed from their natural habitat, their amazing mental abilities and the bonding love that exists between chimpanzees and humans when they share such intimate space. They dine at the table, watch television, play ball games, and throw kisses to a familiar voice on the telephone. But mostly it is the intimate, affectionate interaction of man and chimp in day to day life that will intrigue animal behaviorists as well as general audiences.
Producer & Photographer: Flavia Fontes
ABS Semifinalist, 1996
MAFI’S GLIDE EST
Manu Esteve, Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial), 2000 (27 min)
This is a video history of some young scientists underwater recording of the Atlantic salmon spawning ritual. The film follows a parallel history between salmon populations in the Scottish Highlands and in the Northern Spanish Rivers. Two Atlantic salmon spawning acts are included. The first one was recorded in the Nansa River (Cantabria), and the other one was captured with a night camera in the Kyllachy stream in Scotland. Several other animal species that share the salmon habitat are shown during the documentary. There are a number of references to the difficult situation for the remaining salmon of Spain. This is a nice example of a conservation-focused film for the Jack Ward Memorial Competition.
Producer: Manu Esteve
ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Winner, 2002
MASK OF THE MANDRILL WNET
Thirteen/WNET, 1996 (50 min.)
Like painted warrior, the bright blue and scarlet faces of mandrills peer from the rain forests of West Africa. These large, impressive monkeys live among forest elephants, buffaloes, bushbabies, and surprising societies of spiders. This film portrays the family saga of a mandrill troop, and the struggle for power between its two top-ranking males.
Producer: Bernard Walton
ABS Semifinalist, 1997
MIMICRY, SLEEP AND SEX: THE NATURAL HISTORY OF A MICROPEZID FLY PGO
Patricia G. Ortiz, 2001 (12 min)
This film was made by a fellow animal behaviorist and is about a Micropezid fly that mimics a parasitoid wasp, sleeps in aggregations on tips of leaves and displays intricate courtship behavior during copulation. In addition to capturing various natural history details, this film documents what is apparently cryptic female choice occurring after copulations.
Producer & Photographer: Patricia G. Ortiz
ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Best Film, 2001
MZIMA: HAUNT OF THE RIVERHORSE SVA
Survival Anglia Limited, 2001 (50 min)
In Africa, hippos bring life to a spring and make it ‘Mzima’ – the kiswahili for alive. Hippos support all the other animals living in the spring – in a pyramid of life that is founded on hippo dung. The story centers on the extraordinary and revelatory relationships the hippos have developed with all of the springs’ creatures and ends with the infanticide of a tiny baby hippo that has been born in the pool.
Producers and Photographers: Mark Deeble & Victoria Stone
ABS Best Film Award, 2001
THE NEW CHIMPANZEES
National Geographic Television, 1995 (50 min.) NGT
Strategic thinking...the practice of non-reproductive sex...active learning by youngsters...distinct cultures that vary from place to place...possible use of medicinal herbs...emotional displays of sadness, compassion, and fury are all depicted in this film showcasing chimp societies. From the dense, tropical Tai forest of Africa’s Code d’Ivoire to the steep, grassy slopes surrounding Lake Tanganyika thousands of miles southeast, National Geographic examines the work of the latest generation of men and women in the field studying our closest relatives and leads us into the chimpanzee mind as the search for clues to our own past--and future--quickens. Aspects of the flexible and varied behaviors exhibited by chimp cultures are shown through the studies of Gombe’s monkey-hunting chimps, the “make love, not war” society of bonobos, and the nut-cracking chimps of the Tai forest. The scenes depicting a group’s remarkable show of respect for a dead member and a chimpanzee mother’s wrenching good-by to her stricken baby lead us to conclude that, if we are not deprived of the opportunity, there is much left to learn from these forest relations.
Producers: Catherine McConnell and Cynthia Moses; Photographer: Neil Rettig
ABS Best Film Award, 1996
THE PERILS OF PLECTROPOMUS
Australian Broadcasting Corp. & Bullfrog Films, 1999 (56 min.) BFF
This film portrays the life and death struggles of the inhabitants of Indonesian coral reef ecosystems by focusing on the story of Plectropomus, the coral trout, a member of the sea bass family (Serranidae). In recent years, scientists have pieced together the dramatic life cycle of reef fish like the plectropomus. To overcome the odds against survival plectropomus has developed behaviors that can vary dramatically with the changes in their life stages. These include nocturnal migrations as larval fish, changes in diet and habitat preferences, restricted spawning periods and sites, as well as a protogynous reproductive strategy. The film also stresses the human impact not only on the plectropomus due to over fishing but also the impact on the entire reef ecosystem as a result of fishing techniques involving dynamite and cyanide.
Producer and Photographer: Richard Smith
ABS Semifinalist, 2000
PYGMY CHIMPANZEE: THE LAST GREAT APE
Wildlife On One, BBC/BBC Worldwide, 1997 (28 min.) BBC
Pygmy chimps or bonobos are our closest living relatives but surprisingly, until now, there has never been a complete film on them. They look more like us than common chimps, have an incredible variety of facial expressions, chatter incessantly and are the sexiest of all apes. This remarkable program, shot in the remote forests of Zaire, follows an orphaned young bonobo called Shijimi through the trials of growing up in bonobo society.
Producer: Karen Bass; Filmed and Directed by Martyn Colbeck
ABS Semifinalist, 1998
A RATTLESNAKE’S TALE
BBC Natural History Unit in association with the Discovery Channel, 1997 (28 min.) BBC
Follow the “incredible journey” of one of nature’s most feared creatures, the western diamondback rattlesnake, as it travels into Arizona’s Sonoran Desert as part of its yearly migration to and from its wintering den. Once born, the snakeling is entirely on its own and must survive the scorching heat and cold nights of the desert, the hazards of human misunderstandings and highway crossings, and such ever-present natural predators as red-tailed hawks, giant centipedes, and king snakes. Experience the drama of the hunt and the enchantment of the ritualized courtship behavior of this southwestern reptile. Using thermal imagery, the film depicts how rattlesnakes find their way each year to specific summer feeding grounds and then back to the same den where they spend each winter for 16 years.
Producer: Andy Byatt; Photographers:
ABS Semifinalist, 1998
THE REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR OF THE RAINBOW CICHLID, Herotilapia multispinosa.
Gary Quick (a Jack Ward Competition entry) (14 min.) GQ
This video is intended for use both by students of ethology and advanced cichlidophiles. many of the behaviors are reproduced in a similar manner by many other species of cichlids (especially substrate brooders), so this can be used as a generic guide to cichlid reproductive behavior. The color patterns are obviously unique to the rainbow cichlids. The video is divided into four sections: the Introduction (which is narrated by Gary Quick), the Natural History (again narrated), Color Patterns, and Action Patterns. The latter two sections are not narrated so that viewers can concentrate on seeing the subtle intricacies of each color pattern and action pattern.
Producer/photographer: Gary Quick
ABS/Jack Ward Memorial Film Competition (non-commercial) - Best Film, 1997
THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS
Green Umbrella Ltd., 1995 (49 min.) BBC
Cursed by ancient land, and battered by frequent gales the Ythan estuary in North-East Scotland teems with life. But what is the attraction of this bleak place for the hordes of eider ducks, wading birds, fish and seals that live here? The most detailed study of its kind anywhere has revealed that a thriving microscopic world within the tidal sands and mud provides the lure, and has shown how all species here are linked in a complex “web of life”.
Producer: Nick Upton; Photographers: John & Mary-Lou Aitchison, & Steve Downer
ABS Semifinalist, 1996
THE SCIENCE OF WHALES
Bullfrog Films, 1998 (56 min.) BFF
Incorporating excellent underwater photography, animation, and information gained through the use of formerly top secret technologies, this film reveals aspects of the behavior and physiology of whales that was not possible just a few years ago. With the declassification of anti-submarine sonar technologies by the Navy, scientists have been able to unlock some of the secrets of the underwater life of the whales, especially those related to communication. whale vocalizations are carried thousands of miles underwater and are being studied to provide information about their migratory routes, means of navigation, communication methods, and cooperative hunting and feeding behaviors.
Producers: Bo Boudart & Elizabeth O’Connell
Photographers: Bo Boudart and Louis Prezelin
ABS Best Film Award, 1999
SHARKS ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOUR
The Natural World Series; BBC Natural History Unit, 1994 (50 min.) BBC
Surrounded by gray reef sharks, underwater-photographer MIKE deGRUY lines up for a shot. The flash gun fires, and in an instant one of the sharks sinks its teeth into Mike’s arm and tries to rip it from his body. Re-created for this film, that attack of thirteen years ago, spawned for biologist deGruy a strange passion for sharks. Since then he has filmed sharks the world over in a personal quest to understand more about their fascinating behaviour and their great diversity. From mighty whale sharks to tiny deep sea dogfish; from bonnet-head mothers to electric rays which can stun a man- if you thought all sharks were like Jaws you’re in for a surprise.
Producer: Michael DeGruy and Mimi Armstrong
ABS Semifinalist, 1995
SILENT SENTINELS
Australian Broadcasting Corp. & Bullfrog Films, 1999 (57 min.) BFF