Long time FFC member Al Lethbridge has recently worked on two conservation documentary films. If you too have a film that we could feature drop us an email.

This documentary demonstrates that it is possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems, to restore ecosystem functions in areas where they have been lost, to fundamentally improve the lives of people who have been trapped in poverty for generations, and to sequester carbon naturally. This approach has been dramatically proven on the Loess Plateau in China, the highland area spanning some 640,000 square km in north central China. It is the birthplace of the Han Chinese, headwaters of The Yellow River and home to a new environmental and economic paradigm; a degraded ecosystem of more than 35,000 square km of land now teems with life and supports the sustainable economic, social, and agricultural activities of its people.

"Hope in a Changing Climate" is the latest documentary produced by the Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP), an organization dedicated to placing ecosystem restoration at the center of the global discussions on climate change, poverty, and sustainable agriculture. Shot in stunning HD on location in China, Ethiopia and Rwanda, the film features a diverse collection of interviews, from world leaders such as president of Rwanda HE Paul Kagame, to local people telling their own stories. "Hope in a Changing Climate" is directed by Jeremy Bristow, producer of the award-winning BBC documentaries featuring Sir David Attenborough, "Are We Changing Planet Earth?" and "Can We Save Planet Earth?"

The film is presented by John D. Liu, an environmental filmmaker and ecological field researcher who has produced and directed documentaries for CBS, National Geographic and the BBC.

Financial support for the film is provided by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)-The Netherlands, Open University, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, and The World Bank.

Andrea: Queen Of Mantas

With a wingspan of up to 8 meters, manta raysare one of the largest, gentlest, and most intelligent fish in the ocean. Yet despite their size and curious nature, almost nothing is known about their lives. "ANDREA: QUEEN OF MANTAS", charts a year in the life of young American biologist, Andrea Marshall, who gave up everything for a life in Mozambique, living alongside one of the largest populations of mantas in the world. From the discovery of a giant new species to remarkable insights into their secretive lives, Andrea's findings are set to rock the world of marine biology.   

This film met with fantastic press and a phenomenal response from viewers.  A new giant species discovered, another filmed for the very first time. Watch a short clip of a rare giant sting ray with 2.5m wingspan, never before captured on film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3oJGKA5SHk

"Breathtakingly beautiful testimony..every ripple seemed part of an elegy.." Guardian

"Manta Rays are extraordinary. For a start they look like an alien spaceship that's inadvertently plunged into the ocean.. superb underwater photography.." - Radio Times