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The Whale and the Raven

Mirjam Leuze
2019 | 101 min

Selections and Awards

  • Opening Film - Official SelectionDok Fest - Munich, Germany (2019)

  • Women in Film and TV Vancouver Artistic Merit Award 2019Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada (2019)

  • Official SelectionPlanet in Focus - International Environmental Film Festival, Toronto, Canada (2019)

  • Winner Science Communication AwardCineMare Int'l Ocean Film Festival Kiel, Kiel, Germany (2019)

  • Official SelectionAvailable Light Film Festival, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada (2020)

  • Official SelectionReFrame Film Festival, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada (2020)

  • Official SelectionDoc Point - Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland (2020)

  • Winner - Best Feature Film Award Durham Region International Film Festival, Oshawa, Canada (2020)


Short and Longer Synopses


Director's Statement

Trailer


Clips




Images


Janie Wray, Lead Researcher, BC Whales, and co-founder of the Cetacea Lab on a whale research excursion in the waters off the west coast of Canada.

Hermann Meuter, Whale Researcher at Cetacea Lab, at Whale Point on Gil Island, monitors the underwater noise generated by a passing tanker in an effort to collect data demonstrating the impact of increased tanker traffic on the wildlife living in the area.

Humpback whales off of Gil Island on the west coast of Canada.

Janie Wray, Lead Researcher, BC Whales, and co-founder of the Cetacea Lab, observing humpback whales from land – a unique method of research that is completely unobtrusive.

Hermann Meuter, Whale Researcher at Cetacea Lab, looking out across the waters off the southern point of the uninhabited Gil Island in Gitga'at territory in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada.

A member of the Gitga'at First Nation at a spring harvesting camp looking into the quiet and naturally protected waters off the west coast of Canada where humpback whales, pods of orca, fin whales and countless other wildlife species feed, play and raise their young.

Cetacea Lab – a whale research station originally built by Janie Wray and Hermann Meuter -- at Whale Point on the southern point of the uninhabited Gil Island in Gitga'at territory in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada.

Promotional Materials

Team


Mirjam Leuze
Writer, Director


Photo
Photo : Bernd Beyer




Sandra Brandl
Editor, Co-Producer


Photo
Photo : Andreas Eckhardt-Brandl




Marcelo Busse
Producer (Busse & Halberschmidt)


Photo
Photo : Estelle Klawitter




Andrew Williamson
Producer (Cedar Island Films)


Photo
Photo : Yandy Liu




Henrik Meyer
Producer (Cedar Island Films)


Photo
Photo : Yandy Liu




Shirley Vercruysse
Producer, Executive Producer


Photo
Photo : Myriam Frenette




Christian Vizi
Consulting Producer (VIZION)


Photo




Sabine Bubeck-Paaz
Executive Producer (ZDF-ARTE)


Photo



Additional Documentary Subjects


Helen Clifton
(also known as Granny), Matriarch of the Killerwhale Clan, Gitga'at First Nation


Photo




Spencer Greening
Gitga'at Councillor


Photo




Nicole Robinson
Gitga'at Guardian


Photo




Archie Dundas
(also known as Bunker), Gitga'at Guardian


Photo




Roy Henry Vickers
Gitxaała Storyteller and Artist


Photo



Credits

With the participation of
Janie Wray
Hermann Meuter

And
Helen Clifton
Patricia Lange
Roy Henry Vickers
La’goot Spencer Greening
Nicole Robinson
Archie Dundas
Marven Robinson
Philip Germuth
Katie Welsh
Julie Bits-Thorsen

Writer & Director
Mirjam Leuze

Editing
Sandra Brandl, BFS

Producer
Marcelo Busse

Producers
Henrik Meyer
Andrew Williamson
Shirley Vercruysse

Co-Producer
Sandra Brandl
Mirjam Leuze

Consulting Producer
Christian Vizi

Executive Producer
Sabine Bubeck-Paaz ZDF/ARTE
Shirley Vercruysse NFB

Senior Story Consultant
Narration and Original Artwork “Orca Chief”
Roy Henry Vickers

Animation “Orca Chief”
Elisa Chee

Director of Photography
Athan Merrick

Additional Cinematography
Mirjam Leuze
Simon Schneider

Underwater Cinematograhy
Tavish Campbell

Drone Cinematography
Mike Dinsmore

Composer
Jesse Zubot

Sound Design and Mix
Andreas Hildebrandt

Sound Recordist
Brent Calkin
Tyler Lucas
Millar Montgomery

Gitga’at Advisory Committee
Chris Bolton
La’goot Spencer Greening
Kyle Clifton

A Germany/Canada co-production of busse & halberschmidt,  Cedar Island Films and the National Film Board of Canada,  ZDF in collaboration with ARTE, TOPOS Film, with the support of the FILM UND MEDIEN STIFTUNG NRW

 

 

 

 



Media Relations

  • About busse & halberschmidt

    busse & halberschmidt is an independent production company known for its outstanding feature films and documentaries. Using a fair production model, it targets the international market and has produced or co-produced titles such as Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories (Berlinale Competition) and Zum Geburtstag / A Pact by Denis Dercourt, which stars Marie Bäumer, Mark Waschke, Sylvester Groth, and Sophie Rois, and was theatrically released in Germany by X-Verleih/Warner and subsequently sold to Netflix. The critically acclaimed documentaries In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions and Kokolampy, by award-winning cinematographer Hajo Schomerus, have been screened at festivals worldwide.

  • About Cedar Island Films

    Bringing together decades of domestic and international experience, Cedar Island Films was formed by Andrew Williamson and Henrik Meyer to produce meaningful documentaries, digital-media projects and feature dramas, with a focus on international co-productions. They recently completed the Canadian/German feature documentary co-pro The Whale and the Raven (NFB/Arte) and are in production on feature docs The Search (CBC Doc Channel) and The Magnitude of All Things (NFB/TELUS), directed by Jennifer Abbott (The Corporation). The company is also in development on Faces: Power of the Portrait (Knowledge Network) and the feature drama co-pro Dragonfly Summer, directed by Marie Clements.

     

  • About the NFB

    Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of distinctive, engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 6,500 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.

  • About TOPOS Film

    German-based filmmaker and cultural anthropologist Mirjam Leuze founded TOPOS Filmproduktion in 2010 with the aim of independently directing her first feature-length documentary, Flowers of Freedom. Editor Sandra Brandl joined the company as an official partner in 2014. TOPOS Film creates documentaries based on collaborative filmmaking principles and aims to bring the unheard stories of both humans and nonhumans to viewers around the world. We want to inspire our audiences, move their hearts and minds, and contribute to a positive change.