The following article appeared in the Missoulian on 8 April 2008:
By JAMIE KELLY of the Missoulian
However, “Snow Leopard: Beyond the Myth” underwent plenty of editing changes during the last year, when its producer arrived fresh from
Resubmitted as an official entry this year, the epic story of the rare snow leopard, and efforts to save the species, is “an indicator of the future of wildlife filmmaking,” said IWFF executive director Janet Rose.
“It’s not just about wildlife,” Rose said of the BBC Natural History Unit film, one of 96 documentaries to be screened next month. “It’s about culture and people. The film really hits on all of those cylinders in a dynamic and sometimes controversial, sometimes emotional way.”
The festival’s six finalist judges awarded the film Best of Festival, but as always, it was a close call, said Rose.
Because the entries are increasingly excellent, the festival expanded its list of award categories, for the first time recognizing the best of
The Montana Filmmaker Award went to “Fish and Cow,” an 18-minute film by
The Sapphire Award, named after
The last addition to the award category is the Special Jury Award. It went to “The Last Trimate,” an account of Birute Galdikas’ lifelong fight to save
For more information about the award-winning films and all others that will be shown at next month’s IWFF, go to www.wildlifefilms.org
Coming next month
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/04/05/news/mtregional/news08.txt