Bear 71

Last updated
Bear 71
Directed byLeanne Allison, Jeremy Mendes
Written byJ.B. MacKinnon
Narrated byMia Kirshner
Release date
2012
Running time
20 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$350,000

Bear 71 is a 20-minute 2012 interactive National Film Board of Canada (NFB) web documentary by Leanne Allison and Jeremy Mendes about a female grizzly bear in Banff National Park named Bear 71, who had a tracking collar implanted at the age of three and was watched via trail cameras in the park from 2001 to 2009. [1] [2] [3] The documentary follows the bear, exploring the connections between the human and animal world, and the far-ranging effects that human settlements, roads and railways have on wildlife. [2]

Contents

Production

Through the work of Leanne Allison's husband and film collaborator Karston Heuer ( Being Caribou , Finding Farley ), a park ranger at Banff, Allison was aware of thousands of hours of wildlife footage captured on remote trail cameras in the park. After obtaining permission from researchers, including Parks Canada, Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, and Montana State University, she spent months sifting through these low-res images. Allison originally pitched the idea to the NFB as a traditional documentary. Rob McLaughlin, then head of the NFB's digital studio in Vancouver, suggested an interactive project. [4]

The story was written by J.B. MacKinnon, co-author of the 100 Mile Diet . The bear is voiced by Mia Kirshner. [5] [6] The two co-directors were remote workers: Allison was based in Canmore, Alberta and Mendes was based in Vancouver. [6] The website was designed by Toronto-based digital design firm Jam3. [7]

The film had a budget of $350,000. [8]

Release

Bear 71 went live on the NFB website on January 19, 2012. It was also the subject of an installation art exhibit at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival's New Frontier program beginning January 20, and at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art [5] or via webcam through the documentary’s website. [9] The webdoc features a map of Banff National Park that allows users to follow Bear 71's movements by scrolling over the cameras, and look at other users by activating the computer's webcam. [5]

In April 2012, DOXA Documentary Film Festival opened its 2012 season with a public showing of the film at St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church, with a live musical accompaniment by Tim Hecker, Loscil, and Heather McIntosh. [10]

In March 2017, the film was re-released as a virtual reality work, viewable on Google Daydream and Google Cardboard. [11]

Awards

In June 2012, Jam3 received a Gold Cyber Lion Award the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in the category of Charities, Public Health & Safety and Public Awareness Messages, for its work on Bear 71. [7]

Also in June 2012, Sheffield Doc/Fest awarded Bear 71 the Sheffield Innovation Award sponsored by BT Vision.

In December 2012, Bear 71 was named the best non-fiction web series at the Digi Awards (formerly Canadian New Media Awards). [12]

On January 15, 2013, Bear 71 was named Site of the Year for 2012 by the Favourite Website Awards. [13]

On April 30, 2013, Bear 71 received the Webby Award for best internet art. [14]

The film also received Webby nominations for best public service & activism video, best use of interactive video and best green website. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Film Board of Canada</span> Canadas public film and digital media producer and distributor

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and alternative dramas. In total, the NFB has produced over 13,000 productions since its inception, which have won over 5,000 awards. The NFB reports to the Parliament of Canada through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. It has bilingual production programs and branches in English and French, including multicultural-related documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banff National Park</span> National park in Alberta, Canada

Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, 110–180 kilometres (68–112 mi) west of Calgary, Banff encompasses 6,641 square kilometres (2,564 sq mi) of mountainous terrain, with many glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. The Icefields Parkway extends from Lake Louise, connecting to Jasper National Park in the north. Provincial forests and Yoho National Park are neighbours to the west, while Kootenay National Park is located to the south and Kananaskis Country to the southeast. The main commercial centre of the park is the town of Banff, in the Bow River valley.

<i>Final Offer</i> 1985 Canadian film

Final Offer is a Canadian film documenting the 1984 contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers Union (UAW) and GM. Ultimately, it provided a historical record of the birth of the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) as Bob White, the head of the Canadian sector of the UAW, led his membership out of the International Union and created the CAW.

Evan Jones is an experienced Alternate Reality Game puppetmaster and the owner of Stitch Media with offices in London, Ontario and Toronto.

Kensington Communications is a Toronto-based production company that specializes in documentary films and documentary/factual television series. Founded in 1980 by president Robert Lang, Kensington Communications Inc. has produced over 250 productions from documentary series and films to performing arts and children's specials. Since 1998, Kensington has also been involved in multi-platform interactive projects for the web and mobile devices.

Waterlife is a 2009 documentary film and web documentary about the state of the Great Lakes. It was directed by Kevin McMahon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katerina Cizek</span> Canadian filmmaker and web documentarian

Katerina Cizek is a Canadian documentary director and a pioneer in digital documentaries. She is the Artistic Director, Co-Founder and Executive Producer of the Co-Creation Studio at MIT Open Documentary Lab.

Welcome to Pine Point is a 2011 interactive web documentary by Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge, collectively known as The Goggles, formerly creative directors of Adbusters magazine. The website explores the memories of residents from the former mining community of Pine Point, Northwest Territories, as well as how we remember the past. The project was produced in Vancouver by the National Film Board of Canada.

BLA BLA is an interactive animated film for computer created for by Vincent Morisset with Montreal studio AATOAA, and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The online work has been described as exploring "the principles of human communication," and follows Morisset's collaborations with Arcade Fire on Neon Bible, considered the first interactive music video.

Loc Dao is a Canadian digital media creator who is the chief digital officer (CDO) of the National Film Board of Canada. Dao was named CDO in March 2016, after serving as executive producer and creative technologist for the NFB English-language digital studio in Vancouver since 2011.

Rob McLaughlin is a Canadian journalist and digital media producer who is currently the executive producer of the National Film Board of Canada's Digital Studio in Vancouver. McLaughlin was announced as the head of the NFB studio in May 2016, having previously served as Director of Digital Content and Strategy at the NFB from 2008–2011.

The Boxing Girls of Kabul is a 2012 Canadian documentary film directed by Ariel Nasr. The film follows young women boxers, under which Sadaf Rahimi, and their coach Sabir Sharifi at Afghanistan’s female boxing academy, as these athletes face harassment and threats in their efforts to represent their country in international competition and attempt to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.

<i>Bears and Man</i> 1978 film

Bears and Man is a 1978 Canadian educational film by Bill Schmalz. It was produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Parks Canada. The film documents human-bear interactions in Canada's National Parks. It was narrated by Chief Dan George and Patricia Best, and was co-written and edited by Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn.

<i>Highrise</i> (documentary) Multimedia documentary project about life in residential highrises

Highrise is a multi-year, multimedia documentary project about life in residential highrises, directed by Katerina Cizek and produced by Gerry Flahive for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The project, which began in 2009, includes five web documentaries—The Thousandth Tower, Out My Window, One Millionth Tower, A Short History of the Highrise and Universe Within: Digital Lives in the Global Highrise—as well as more than 20 derivative projects such as public art exhibits and live performances.

Paul Émile d'Entremont is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, best known for his 2012 film about LGBT refugees, Last Chance.

David Christensen is an Alberta film director and producer who since October 2007 has been an executive producer with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) at its Northwest Centre, based in Edmonton.

Seven Digital Deadly Sins is a 2014 web documentary, produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and The Guardian, which explores online behaviour according to the traditional seven deadly sins. It features video confessions by such artists and celebrities as Newfoundland comedian Mary Walsh, Billy Bragg, novelist Gary Shteyngart, comic Josie Long, musician Bill Bailey and writer Jon Ronson. The interactive site also allows users to absolve or condemn various digital "sins" of the day. The site was created in collaboration with Jam3 and produced for the NFB by its Digital Studio in Vancouver, with Loc Dao as executive producer.

Ann Shin is a filmmaker and writer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cardboard Crash is a 2015 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) mobile app and virtual reality work developed by Vincent McCurley, exploring the ethical issues of autonomous cars.

<i>Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up</i> 2019 Canadian film

nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Tasha Hubbard and released in 2019. The film centres on the 2016 death of Colten Boushie, and depicts his family's struggle to attain justice after the controversial acquittal of Boushie's killer.Narrated by Hubbard, the film also includes a number of animated segments which contextualize the broader history of indigenous peoples of Canada.

References

  1. ↑ "THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN HUMANS, ANIMALS AND TECHNOLOGY". National Film Board of Canada.
  2. 1 2 Makarechi, Kia (24 January 2012). "'Bear 71': Interactive Film At Sundance Tells Dark Side Of Human Interaction With Wildlife". HuffPost .
  3. ↑ "Alberta filmmaker tracks female grizzly in documentary". CBC News . 11 July 2012.
  4. ↑ Martel, Lynn (8 March 2012). "NFB interactive documentary stars Rockies' grizzly". Pique Newsmagazine .
  5. 1 2 3 Hutter, Kristy (18 January 2012). "A documentary like no other documentary". Maclean's .
  6. 1 2 Mackie, John (11 June 2011). "NFB soars in cyberspace". Vancouver Sun . Archived from the original on 1 August 2012 – via PressReader.
  7. 1 2 Barnard, Linda (22 June 2012). "NFB's Bear 71 picks up Cannes prize". Toronto Star . Archived from the original on 1 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "The Making of Bear 71". PBS . May 25, 2013.
  9. ↑ ANDERSEN, MICHAEL (21 February 2012). "Documentary Film Bear 71 Tags and Tracks Viewers" . Wired .
  10. ↑ Mack, Adrian (4 April 2012). "DOXA Documentary Film Festival gets bigger and badder". Georgia Straight .
  11. ↑ Jardine, Alexandra (1 March 2017). "National Film Board of Canada's 'Bear 71' Gets a Virtual Reality Makeover". Ad Age .
  12. ↑ Ng, Danielle; Quan, See (5 December 2012). "Secret Location, NFB take two wins each at Digi Awards". Playback .
  13. ↑ "The FWA Site Of The Year 2012". Favourite Website Awards.
  14. ↑ "Canadians Grimes, Justin Bieber, Bear 71 doc among Webby winners". CBC News . Associated Press. 30 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "Webby Award contenders include NFB docs, Obama". CBC News . 10 October 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.