Nature's Voices: Filmmaking

Drop Images Here

Filmmaking

Wiebke Finkler is the principal partner of Nature’s Voices, which collectively has over 40 years experience making science and natural history documentaries.

Some of our documentaries are:

The Guardian of Kinabalu

This documentary takes us to Borneo’s stunningly beautiful Kinabalu Park with its centrepiece of Mount Kinabalu, a biological hotspot in every sense of the word. We see an incredible range of exotic animals and plants, many of them unique to the area. Our guide is a humble spiritual man who seems to know everything there is to know about the mountain and its rainforests. Alim Biun is connected to the spirits of the forest, who he says we are in danger of offending unless we care for the environment properly.

This film, then, sets out to not only showcase the extreme beauty and diversity of the natural world of Mount Kinabalu, but also the story of Alim Biun, the man with a direct line to the spiritual world and a desire to protect Kinabalu in order to keep the spirits happy.

Wiebke was co-Director, co-Producer, a Cameraperson and Editor for The Guardian of Kinabalu.

Selected for the Kuala Lumpur Environmental Film Festival

Meet The Real Penguins

Made in association with NHNZ and WNET (USA), this documentary won 12 international awards. A major romp through the world of penguins (it was marketed in USA under the title The World of Penguins), this film proved to be a big hit and was the first ever documentary from NHNZ to be selected for the BBC’s premiere natural history slot. The awards include:

Abu Prize for Best Documentary at the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, Hong Kong

Prix Special du Jury at the Festival de L'Oiseau, Abbeville, France

Special Prize of the Jury, 1st International Science Film Festival, Budapest, Hungary

Wind Dancer: the story of Shona Dunlop MacTavish

This documentary is about the extraordinary story of Shona Dunlop MacTavish, the woman who brought modern dance to New Zealand and, in the process, dealt with three of the greatest social upheavals of the 20th Century: Naziism, Communism and Apartheid. The film is notable for its beautiful use of imagery.

Wiebke was Director, co-Producer and Editor of Wind Dancer.

Selected for the New Zealand International Film Festival

Selected for the WildSouth International Film Festival

Under Galapagos

The idea behind this documentary was to examine how Charles Darwin's ideas on evolution may have been affected had he had an aqualung and been able to explore underwater around the Galapagos Islands. Made in association with NHNZ and PBS, a crew of five shot the film in the Galapagos Islands. Combining stunning underwater sequences (these were the first images filmed of penguins and sea lions feeding on tight schools of anchovy that pulsated with almost balletic beauty – subsequently copied by other filmmakers, including the BBC) with a beautiful score, it contrasts the differences in animals above the waterline compared with the similarities in those below. While at first glance this might appear contradictory, the film shows how both provide evidence for evolution by natural selection.

Eating Like A Gannet

Made in association with NHNZ and Ecology Division DSIR, this film documents the change in the world’s only mainland colony of gannets at Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand, and relates the increasing numbers of gannets over 40 years to changes in their food supply brought about by overfishing. In essence, overfishing has removed many of the top fish predators from the ecosystem, allowing numbers of the smaller fish on which they and the gannets prey to increase unabated, thereby providing a bonanza for the gannets. The film is distinguished by its beautiful lighting and intimate look into the lives of gannets. It has been sold and screened in more than 100 countries throughout the world.

Singing Wood

Singing Wood is a film about a guitar maker. It screened throughout New Zealand to rave reviews. Wiebke was co-Director, co-Producer, co-Editor and co-Cameraperson for Singing Wood.

Selected for the New Zealand International Film Festival