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JAN CANNON FILMS |
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19 Garen Road Charlotte, VT 05445 802-425-6320 |
BERND HEINRICH FILM
$1700 of second stage fundraising goal of $25,000 raised
($25,000 first stage fundraising goal reached!!!)
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The World of Bernd Heinrich
Film Proposal (pdf file)
I am raising money to make a
documentary film on one of the world’s most insightful and original biologists,
Bernd Heinrich.
Heinrich has been both a Guggenheim Fellow and a Harvard
Fellow, and has been awarded two honorary doctorates.
He has authored 16 books on various aspects of the
natural world and published numerous scholarly papers, professional book
reviews, book chapters, and articles for magazines and newspapers as diverse as
the New York
Times, Outside and
Runners World.
In addition to his scholarly work he is a
world-class ultramarathoner currently holding the
In a
New York Times book review,
David Quammen wrote that Heinrich “is no ordinary biologist.
He’s the sort who combines formidable
scientific rigor with a sense
of irony and an unslaked, boyish enthusiasm for his subject. . .
He has a rare ability to embed dense scientific
explications within graceful, light-footed nature writing. . . The mind of Bernd
Heinrich is a big antic thing, like a raven, and meant to live outdoors.”
Heinrich’s unique personality is clearly evident in this passage from one of
his books,
A Year in the Maine Woods:
“A fierce restlessness draws me out into the woods.
As an excuse, to give this urge legitimacy, I decide
to search for golden-crowned kinglets.
Are these tiny wraiths still here after the sub-zero
temperatures we’ve had?
I suspect they are, but I must
see
them to be reassured.
I wonder how they can stay alive in these woods, all
winter long, on a diet of insects gleaned from open branches.
Very few people know the birds exist here at all, so
I feel like I’m delving into a deep secret.
If I can find out how they do it, then I’ll know
something that nobody in the whole world knows, and that prospect excites me.
I do not yet want to form a hypothesis to test,
because as soon as you make a hypothesis, you become prejudiced.
Your
mind slides into a groove, and once it is in that groove, has difficulty
noticing anything outside of it.
During this time my senses must be sharp; this is
the main thing – to be sharp, yet open.
Before going on a hunting expedition, some Indians of
Amazonia make themselves feel godlike, with sharpened senses and increased
strength, by “taking frog.”
Their hunter’s magic is a potion scraped from the
skin of a green frog,
Phyllomedusus bicolor.
I sharpen my own senses and enhance my feeling of
well-being by imbibing a brown brew that is liberally served at the Farmington
Diner, made from pouring hot water through the ground-up seeds of a tropical
shrub.
I enhance the flavor by adding a dollop of the udder
secretions of a cow, plus the crystallate of the juices of the cane plant.
The film will provide an intimate portrait of Heinrich as he shares his
many ideas about the natural world and his approach to studying it.
He feels that productive and enjoyable biology
starts with a few basic concepts applied to the familiar, and then works "down"
into mechanisms, to see how the world "works."
As a
scientific naturalist, his work begins with the simple act of observation, but
eventually he sets up experiments to try to make sense of what he has seen.
In an era of deep space probes and quantum mechanics
it may be surprising to many that useful science can still be practiced so near
to home and often with little technology.
The film will not just re-examine ground Heinrich has
already covered in his writings but will also be a unique record of a year in
nature with one of the preeminent naturalists of our time.
Filming
will be done primarily at Heinrich’s home in
The style of the film will reflect the
way in which Heinrich conducts his scientific experiments.
He describes his approach to research as “seeing
little opportunities that seem interesting and going from there. . .
[I
like to] keep mostly low to the ground and then look up now and then.”
The film will proceed in a similar manner.
It will be a collaboration between art and science
and will seek to capture not only the beauty of the visible world but also the
beauty underlying it.
The film will also show why biology
matters and how it can help humans better understand their place in nature.
We have done immeasurable harm to the earth with pollution,
climate change, resource depletion and species extinction.
It is critical that we stop the damage immediately
while also striving to undo the harm we’ve already done.
Our best hope for the restoration of the earth lies
in a mass awakening of humanity to the wonder and beauty of this creation and an
appreciation of our place within it.
Heinrich, with his profound love of nature,
penetrating mind and gift for conveying his insights, is an inspiring figure
offering us a way back to a nature we must once again know and love.
The
film will be of interest to
the large following of Heinrich’s readers, students of nature, educators and the
general public.
It will be 1 to
1 1/2 hours in length and shot on high-definition video.
I estimate it will take approximately 50 days of
filming and 75 days of editing to complete the film.
Exhibition possibilities include the
science shows on PBS and cable television.
DVD sales will also be important and advertising
will be targeted toward the over 123,000 libraries in the
Your
immediate consideration of this proposal will be most appreciated as I would
like to begin filming as soon as possible.
I welcome your partnership at this exciting time and
very much look forward to hearing from you and discussing further how you might
support this project.
BERND HEINRICH SELECTED BOOKS
The Summer World,
HarperCollins, forthcoming 2008
The Snoring Bird,
HarperCollins, 2007
The Geese of Beaver Bog,
HarperCollins, 2004
Winter World,
HarperCollins,
2003
Why We Run,
HarperCollins,
2001
Mind of the Raven,
HarperCollins,
1999
The Trees in my
A Year in the
An Owl in the House,
Little,
Brown & Co., 1990
Bumblebee Economics,
REVIEWS
Publishers Weekly
"Arguably today’s finest naturalist author...our latter-day Thoreau."
"The Snoring Bird...show[s] readers why the work of an observant field biologist
still matters."
New York Times Book Review
"Some of Heinrich’s
most lyrical writing...the future scientist as a footloose nature boy."
The Washington
Post
"The Trees In My Forest is an engaging primer on the complex biological
economics of the woods themselves...It's a quiet walk in stately woods...In
Heinrich's hands, the lives of trees are as noble and as dramatic as the lives
of men."
Wall Street Journal
"He writes with a
graceful lyricism...to attract many general readers of natural history."
New York Times
"These passionate observations of a place 'where the subtle matters and the spectacular distracts' superbly mix memoir and science."
Edward O. Wilson, University Research Professor,
"This is an amazing book by an amazing author. Heinrich is a scientist and
naturalist of the first rank, champion ultramarathoner, woodsman of skills
seldom seen in modern times, and not least. . . a nature writer of uncommon
talent.
Jean Craighead George, award-winning author of
Julie of the Wolves
"...extraordinary...a memoir of fun, daringness and intellectual curiosity, the
heartwarming evolution of a modern biologist."
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, anthropologist and author of the bestseller
The Hidden Life of
Dogs
"...I couldn’t leave
its pages...it has joined the small collection of my most favorite books..."
Tom Seeley, professor of biology, Cornell University
"I have read Bernd's book and find that it is captivating, for it sheds light
not only on the mind of the raven, one of the most intelligent creatures in
nature, but also on the mind of Bernd Heinrich, one of the most insightful and
original biologists on earth."
John Alcock, author of
"Bernd Heinrich writes with great authority and enthusiasm about the union of
curiosity and science. The result is a wonderfully entertaining book about
ravens and the excitement of discovery."
Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of
Population Studies, department of biological sciences,
"Fascinating science and brilliant writing. Bernd Heinrich has done it again.
