The Disenchanted Forest
Encyclopedia
The Disenchanted Forest is an award-winning 1999 film that follows endangered orphan orangutans on the island of Borneo
as they are rehabilitated and returned to their rainforest home. It centres on the three main Borneo Orangutan Survival
Foundation (BOS) projects - Wanariset, Nyaru Menteng and Mawas. It is narrated by Brooke Shields
.
Dr. Anne Russon, primate
psychologist, broaches new territory in the attempt to understand orangutan intelligence and psychology. Orangutans, like humans, have "culture." They do not rely solely on animal instinct for survival. Instead a rich and complex society of elders and peers provides the young with critical knowledge that is necessary for their survival in the rainforest. The destruction of the orangutan's habitat to make way for palm oil
plantations and the illegal pet-trade threaten the lives of these great apes. When they are taken out of their habitat or when it is destroyed, their culture is disabled.
Dr. Willie Smits
, director of the Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Project, and his team rescue hundreds of orangutans. Dr. Smits is committed to preserving orangutan habitat and returning captives back into rainforest homes.
Dr Carl Van Schaik, primatologist, discusses the rapidly diminishing opportunity to learn about human evolution as the number of wild orangutans dwindles precariously. He believes questions such as, 'where does our culture come from?' can be answered through the study of orangutan culture and in this context discusses the incredibly fragile culture of the solitary orangutan.
At Wanariset the orphans learn the skills they need to survive in the wild. When they are old and skilled enough they are released into protected rainforest. Without mothers and more knowledgeable elders, strange 'Lord of the Flies' communities evolve in the forest. Eventually the orangutans learn to sustain themselves without human aid.
With the impending extinction
of orangutans, opportunities to observe and interact them in their natural setting are reduced.
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
as they are rehabilitated and returned to their rainforest home. It centres on the three main Borneo Orangutan Survival
Borneo Orangutan Survival
The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is an Indonesian non-profit NGO founded by Dr Willie Smits in 1991 and dedicated to the conservation of the endangered Bornean Orangutan and its habitat through the involvement of local people...
Foundation (BOS) projects - Wanariset, Nyaru Menteng and Mawas. It is narrated by Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
.
Synopsis
In the Bornean rainforestRainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
Dr. Anne Russon, primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
psychologist, broaches new territory in the attempt to understand orangutan intelligence and psychology. Orangutans, like humans, have "culture." They do not rely solely on animal instinct for survival. Instead a rich and complex society of elders and peers provides the young with critical knowledge that is necessary for their survival in the rainforest. The destruction of the orangutan's habitat to make way for palm oil
Palm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
plantations and the illegal pet-trade threaten the lives of these great apes. When they are taken out of their habitat or when it is destroyed, their culture is disabled.
Dr. Willie Smits
Willie Smits
Willie Smits is a trained forester, a microbiologist, conservationist, animal rights activist and social entrepreneur...
, director of the Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Project, and his team rescue hundreds of orangutans. Dr. Smits is committed to preserving orangutan habitat and returning captives back into rainforest homes.
Dr Carl Van Schaik, primatologist, discusses the rapidly diminishing opportunity to learn about human evolution as the number of wild orangutans dwindles precariously. He believes questions such as, 'where does our culture come from?' can be answered through the study of orangutan culture and in this context discusses the incredibly fragile culture of the solitary orangutan.
At Wanariset the orphans learn the skills they need to survive in the wild. When they are old and skilled enough they are released into protected rainforest. Without mothers and more knowledgeable elders, strange 'Lord of the Flies' communities evolve in the forest. Eventually the orangutans learn to sustain themselves without human aid.
With the impending extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
of orangutans, opportunities to observe and interact them in their natural setting are reduced.
"Poignant without sentimentality...making us think hard about the meanings and values of culture and nature." Prof. Lorraine DastonLorraine DastonLorraine Daston is an American historian of science, presently the executive director of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin...
, Director, Max Planck Institute for the History of ScienceMax Planck Institute for the History of ScienceThe Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin was established in March 1994. Its research is primarily devoted to a theoretically oriented history of science, principally of the natural sciences, but with methodological perspectives drawn from the cognitive sciences and from...
Awards
- Commendation, The Genesis Awards, 2002.
- Finalist, Marion Zentz Best Newcomer Award, Jackson Hole Film Festival, 2001.
- Merit Award for Educational Value & Merit Award for Production Value, International Wildlife Film Festival, Missoula, Montana, 2002.
- 2nd Place EarthVision Environmental Film & Video Competition, 2001.
- Merit Award, Columbus, Ohio, 2002.
- Best Cinematography, Festival du Cinéma de Bruxelles, 2004.
Festivals
- International Primatogical Society Film Festival
- Merit Awards, International Wildlife Film Festival, Missoula
- Finalist, Best Newcomer Award, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival
- Honorable Mention, Columbus International Film & Video Festival
- Commendation, The Genesis Awards
- Best Cinematograhy, Brussels Film Festival
- 2nd Place, EarthVision Environmental Film and Video Competition
- Mill Valley International Film Festival
- Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival
- Ekotopfilm, Slovakia
- Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
- Cork International Film Festival
- Tahoe International Film Festival
- Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival
- Breckenridge International Film Festival
- San Diego Asian American Film Festival
- River Run Film Festival
- Temecula Valley Film Festival
- Gaia Film Festival, San Diego
- Sedona Film Festival
- Tangle River Environmental Film Festival
- Artivist Film Festival
- EcoVision Festival, Palermo
- Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth
See also
- Orangutan IslandOrangutan IslandOrangutan Island is a documentary television series, in the style of the hugely successful series Meerkat Manor, that blends more traditional documentary filming with dramatic narration. The series was produced by NHNZ with creator Judith Curran also acting as the series producer...
(NHNZ) - Orangutan DiaryOrangutan diaryOrangutan Diary is a nature documentary series on the BBC, which follows the lives of Bornean Orangutans in the care of Lone Drøscher Nielsen, a member of the Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation. The program tries to detail the threat that the orangutans face in day to day life...
(BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
) - The Burning SeasonThe Burning Season (2008 film)The Burning Season is a documentary about the burning of rainforests in Indonesia which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. The main characters featured in the film are: Dorjee Sun from Australia; Achmadi, a small-scale palm oil farmer from Jambi province in Indonesia; and Lone Drøscher...
External links
- alchemyfilms.com The producers' web site,for trailer, information and revues
- www.savetheorangutan.org Borneo Orangutan Survival's international site
- wildaid.org WildAid web site
- orangutansonline.com Orangutans Online web site
- cubeinternational.com, the distributor's page on the film
- bullfrogfilms.com, the educational distributor's page on the film
- collectiveeye.org, the educational distributor's page on the film