GREAT APES FILM INITIATIVE (GAFI)

With great excitement and pleasure, we would like to announce the latest success for FFC and our Great Apes Film Initiative (GAFI). As many of you know, wildlife films are often most effective if they are seen by those who live where the films are shot or by those who can make decisions or take action. The Great Apes Film Initiative has done just this.

On January 26th, the first batch of eleven award winning programmes on great apes, generously donated to Great Apes Film Initiative by BBC Worldwide and Granada International were presented to the Ministers of Forestry and the Environment for Congo and Cameroon at the Seven Nations Summit for Sustainable Environments in Congo Brazzaville. The ministers were delighted to receive such a prestigious gift and after personally signing the contract themselves, issued instructions that the programmes were to be aired that same week to coincide with the Summit.

Report from Ian Redmond, Chief Consultant for GRASP UNEP\UNESCO

"The other big success is down to our new NGO partner Filmmakers For Conservation. Madelaine finally managed to get contracts out of the BBC Worldwide and copies (paid for by Born Free Foundation because GAFI still hasn't got funding) of the beta tapes of 6 BBC Worldwide and 5 Granada International documentaries. I carried them here personally and yesterday the Minister signed the contract giving the free transmission rights we have negotiated. The reaction here is fantastic, and they immediately said they want to screen the three-part series on the Congo basin next week - during the COMIFAC meeting - as an adjunct to the news coverage of the meeting.

The Minister also said he'd raise this with the Congo B Minister (I have six BBC Worldwide tapes for Congo B too, and a contract for TeleCongo) so we might just pull off transmission in both countries.

The Granada International tapes are in English, hence no copies yet for Congo, but BBC Worldwide have given us Cousins - 3x50 minutes series on primates, and Congo River - 3x50mins on the Congo Basin. It is the latter series which we hope will be broadcast next week. We also may be able to screen parts of the series during the COMIFAC gathering if the Minister is successful - he said he'd suggest it to the organisers.

This could be REALLY significant for GRASP because it is high profile and seen as a big gift - to buy the broadcast rights would cost thousands of dollars per film, which is why they are never seen in the countries they are made. Do I sound excited? I hope you all are, and we owe Madelaine a HUGE thank you for keeping on the case for MONTHS even though we don't have funding yet, so she's been living off her dwindling reserves. Hopefully, once the word is out that it is happening and a success, sustainable funding will follow... that's all for now, cheers, Ian "

At the same time, VHS copies of the films were delivered to Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon to support their educational work with school children and the local communities, particularly with the problems of bushmeat.

FFC is making a difference and it is only the beginning. There are another 21 countries that still have endangered great apes living in them. If you are inspired by the Great Apes Film Initiative and would like to help, or have any contacts or ideas for fundraising to get the programmes into every country which needs them, please contact madelaine@filmmakersforconservation.org.

We would like to thank all the individuals and company sponsors who have started GAFI off so successfully; GRASP, BBC Worldwide, Granada International, Born Free Foundation and Films @ 59. Without the support of these people, GAFI would still be just a good idea.