Privilege of Movement Film Festival is a celebration of our ability and love to move freely in natural spaces. It also recognises the hard reality that the greatest threat facing the planet today is lack of biodiversity, and biodiversity is dependent on freedom of movement for all species. Through exploring, celebrating and educating about our natural spaces we aim to manifest a culture that values the environment better, and hence encourages a more conscious interaction with it.
Dates: 30 Sept – 2 Oct 2021
Venue: Hillcrest Estate, Cape Town
Info: www.capefold.co.za // Festival trailer //
In support of the Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative
Why is it important to enable biodiversity through corridors?
Due to fragmentation of the biomes there is thought to be only one free roaming elephant, left hiding in the Knysna Forests. The elephant is a keystone species and path maker. Without biodiversity species are forced into inbreeding and all variety is lost, which is essential for evolution and homeostasis. But this requires movement. By opening corridors we can potentially reunite the last free roaming elephant of Knysna with her herd in Addo, and in so doing open the route to all species of animals, plants and insects and keep their existence rich. Find out more here
This festival attempts to harness humankind’s privilege of movement to enable other species to share equal opportunity.
The films:
Unfold (17mins) – A 1136km traverse of the Cape Fold Mountains
By Damien Schumann
In a time when humanity has conquered everything, imagine finding a forgotten mountain range in your backyard. Unfold chronicles the personal and physical journey of a photographer who attempts the first entire traverse of the 1136km Cape Fold Mountain Range. What starts as a radical idea for adventure, becomes a deep engagement with one of the worlds most diverse biomes, and a confrontation with why someone would risk their life, alone, for a month, to know their backyard better. Ridgeline running lends itself to a fast and light alpine style. This genre of movement provides access to some of the South Africa’s harshest yet magnificent landscapes. Stepping into the unknown and ungoverned can be liberating, but also desperately challenging, and this film bares it all in an attempt to take adventure back to the golden age of exploration.
The Privilege of Movement (17mins) – Following an ancient elephant migration path, because no other species can
Directed by Clyde Berning and Damien Schumann. Produced by Joan Berning.
The greatest threat facing the planet today is fragmentation of landscape, which kills biodiversity, literally through inbreeding. The Eden to Addo Corridor Initiative is working to develop biodiversity corridors that link the three unfenced Mega Parks – The Addo Elephant, Baviaanskloof and Garden of Eden National Parks – so that all species of mammals, insects and plants alike can migrate as they have for centuries. Ultra runners Clyde Berning and Damien Schumann decided to utilise their Privilege of Movement in November 2020 to run on behalf of all species that once followed this ancient elephant migration route between these parks, in the hope to reunite the last remaining elephant in the Garden Route National Park with her herd in the Addo. Teamed up with a Biology Conservationist and an Expedition Doctor, their adventure made for an insightful, moving and sometimes comical experience.
Rolling Mountains – North America (37mins) – The ultimate trail running road trip Directed by Damien Schumann, Produced by Ragna Debats and Pere Aurell Pro trail runners Ragna Debats and Pere Aurell tackle the sixth continent in their global running adventure Rolling Mountains. Teamed up with their two dogs and daughter Onna, they spend six weeks living in a campervan and exploring North America’s best National Parks and trails. All the while Ragna is preparing for her first 100 mile race at Western States and is hoping for a podium finish amongst the worlds leading trail runners. If you have a travel bug and love the outdoors, this is all the inspiration you need.
