From Asia to Antarctica—a documentary produced last year by Eco-Business that explores the climate connection between both continents—has been shortlisted for this year’s Jackson Wild Media Awards, touted as the Oscars of nature filmmaking.
Finalists for the annual film competition were announced on 5 August by organisers of the Jackson Wild Summit, an international conference to be held in Jackson, Wyoming in the United States from 21 to 27 September this year.
Winners will be announced at the Grand Teton Awards Gala Celebration on 26 September.
The finalists competing in more than 30 categories this year include BBC’s Blue Planet II: One Ocean and Our Planet: Jungles by Silverback Films for Netflix, as well as National Geographic Documentary Films’ Free Solo. The latter, which chronicled climber Alex Honnold’s historic ascent of the El Capitan rock formation at Yosemite National Park without ropes or safety gear, won Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Oscars.
From Asia to Antarctica is one of three finalists in the Conservation Short Form category. It is up against Sides of a Horn, which is about South Africa’s rhino poaching war, and Nigerians Fight to Protect the World’s Most Trafficked Mammal, which documents the plight of the pangolin.
On this year’s “inspired” finalists, Jackson Wild executive director Lisa Samford said: “With powerful messaging and stunning imaging, these richly woven stories from around the world are high impact and purpose-driven.”
The competition drew more than 1,000 entries from over 30 countries and finalists were selected by more than 250 international judges.
From Asia to Antarctica documents the ClimateForce: Antarctica 2018 expedition led by British polar explorer Robert Swan. The 17-minute documentary, by Eco-Business managing editor Jessica Cheam and Scottish documentarian Fraser Morton, also features footage from the South Pole Energy Challenge—the world’s first renewable energy expedition led by Sir Robert and his son Barney that took place from December 2017 to January 2018.
Released in June last year, the film is part of Eco-Business’ multi-year Changing Course campaign, which advocates renewable energy, zero waste, sustainable lifestyles and engaging youth on environmental issues.
This year’s edition of the campaign will feature a new documentary from a recent trip to the Arctic by Cheam and Morton. It will premiere in October and be showcased as part of the Changing Course 2019 exhibition in Singapore later this year.
Cheam added, “We are so thrilled and humbled to be shortlisted for this award, I hope this helps get our documentary seen by an even wider audience to help inspire action on our climate crisis.”
