Wildscreen 2018: Day Four

The public screening programme of this year’s Wildscreen Festival continues today at three venues – the Arnolfini, Watershed and the festival’s own hub in Millennium Square. Tickets are £5 (£3.50 concessions) across all venues. Scroll down for today’s full programme and go here to book.

Double Bill: Blue Planet II + Q&A
17:30 – 20:00
Watershed

Journey through the ocean with a double dose of David Attenborough!

One Ocean
One Ocean takes us on a journey from the tropics to the poles, to reveal new worlds and extraordinary never seen before animal behaviours

Our Blue Planet
In Our Blue Planet, David Attenborough examines the impact our modern lives are having on the ocean. The film explores the changes in the ocean that will require a global effort including unprecedented coral bleaching and the predicted sea level rise that could impact the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with digital producer Nicola Brown, series producer Mark Brownlow and producer Orla Doherty.

The Last Animals + Q&A
18:30 – 20:25
Arnolfini

Conflict photographer Kate Brooks turns her lens from the war zones she is used to covering to a new kind of genocide – the killing of African elephants and rhinos – in this sweeping and sobering expose. But all is not yet lost – at the same time, Brooks documents the heroic efforts of conservationists, park rangers, and scientists to protect these animals in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Kate Brooks.

The Shorts
18:30 – 19:50
Wildscreen Festival Hub, Millennium Square

From the humble hedgehog to the mighty polar bear, these short Panda Award nominated productions tell big stories!

M6NTHS
12 mins
M6NTHS is a short, empathetic film about an animal in captivity, longing for the outside. Without any shock effects, voice over or presenter, this visual film will change your view on pigs forever. It is the pig himself who invites you to see the world through his eyes…

Churchill
7 mins
Churchill is an experimental visual poem dedicated to the the town and polar bears of Churchill, Manitoba. While this film presents beautiful scenes of Churchill and its wildlife, the design of the piece remains unsettling, ambiguous and unresolved, mirroring the feelings of the filmmaker towards the subject and his work in natural-history film making. This piece was created as an experimental film attempting to expand the boundaries of nature films and incorporate the mystery that film-makers often encounter in the field.

Blood Island
12 mins
Deep in the heart of Liberia’s jungles, hundreds of chimpanzees were taken from the wild. Captured, bred, and infected with hepatitis, our closest animal relatives were to unlock the mysteries of human diseases. Gripping to the core, Blood Island tells the powerful story of the chimpanzees, their captors and the man still fighting to save them.

Landscape of Consumption
12 mins
The last half-century of exponential population growth combined with consumer-capitalism has vastly transformed the topography of our small green planet. The Landscape of Consumption depicts, through dramatic time-lapse photography, these manufactured environments and their perpetual processes of consumption. Overall, 200,000 still images were created across 3 continents in 20 days to form this short film.

Hedgehog Close
2 mins
Hedgehog Close is a charming stop-motion animation which shines a spotlight on the plight of the hedgehog in the UK. The film aims to engage a popular audience, and show them how they can help.

Giraffes: Africa’s Gentle Giants + Q&A
20:30 – 21:50
Wildscreen Festival Hub, Millennium Square

Everyone loves giraffes, but what do we really know about them? Dr Julian Fennessy has spent his life researching giraffes and has made a terrible discovery: they’re disappearing. This film reveals new discoveries in giraffe biology and follows an unprecedented rescue mission.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Tom Mustill.

The Poacher’s Pipeline + Q&A
21:00 – 22:10
Arnolfini

Exposing the traffickers behind the rhino horn trade and the corruption that makes it possible. The Poacher’s Pipeline doesn’t just tell the story of rhino poaching. Instead this groundbreaking documentary reveals the global syndicates that fuel the illegal killing. It’s a trail that leads beyond the criminals to a South African minister, diplomats and even the delegation of the Chinese Premier.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with reporter Deborah Davies.