OUR WORK / CURRENT PROJECTS |
MYSTERY OF THE ARCTIC CAIRN, 2014
MYSTERY OF THE ARCTIC CAIRN is an arctic adventure with an historical twist - A 1000km epic journey into the arctic wilderness.
Tobias Thorleifsson is a ‘polar nerd’ with a curious dream: He wants to travel through the northenmost Canadian arctic in the footsteps of Otto Svedrup – a polar legend no-one has heard about. His noble quest: a pile of rocks. In 1898 Otto Svedrup set off from Norway aboard the famous ship, the Fram. With a crew of 16 men he ventured into the unknown. Over the next four years they achieved the greatest mapping feat of their time - mapping 150 000 square km’s of land in the arctic. In his expedition diary, Svedrup writes that they built a cairn at their Northernmost position, Land’s Lokk – the end of Land. To date this cairn has never been found. Teaming up with American polar traveler, John Huston and Canadian Hugh Dale-Harris the team travels to Lands Lokk in search of Sverdrup’s lost cairn. South African filmmaker, Kyle O’Donoghue was the 4th member of the team who documents this incredible journey to the edge of the world. We witness a stand-off with a polar bear, a dance with arctic wolves and the silent awe of prehistoric musk oxen. The film is an intimate, humorous, honest story of four men and four tempestuous Inuit dogs, Napu, Larry, Axel and Elle. Their search for traces of a forgotten polar explorer takes them on an unforgettable journey through one of the most intriguing places on earth. Links: http://www.newland2013film.com/film; http://2041.com/kyle-odonoghue-on-his-arctic-expedition; |
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UNDER THE MOUNTAIN
A film about resilience and the will to survive What started off as a film about TB, became a poignant document of a woman’s will to survive against the odds. It’s Christmas time in the Boland, a group of giggling women are donning headwraps, crowns and angel wings. Mother Mary is an outspoken young woman called Zukiswa – the audience, a group of patients wearing hospital masks, nurses, doctors, social workers and children. It’s the annual nativity play at Brewelskloof TB hospital in the Western Cape, South Africa. Zukiswa Nkathana has spent her life on the periphery of the mainstream, just waiting to be noticed. Boisterous, outspoken and brimming with possibility, she is and uneducated single mom, living in a squatter camp, who finds out that she has Multiple Drug resistant TB. She befriends the camera like an old pro and delights in this opportunity to tell her story as she signs up for 6 months hospitalization at Brewelskloof and the 18 months’ harrowing MDR and ARV drug regime that follows. This is her only chance to life. In her journey she befriends other women in the MDR ward, some who adhere and recover, some who default and face the inevitable decline. UNDER THE MOUNTAIN is a film of hope in the face of adversity, but doesn’t shy away from the harsh reality that is facing the poorest of the poor in South Africa today. PRODUCTION STATUS The film has been developed and filmed over 2 years with the support of the GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, MALARIA AND TB. Currently in post-production with support from the SABC. |
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