Super Nature

In a new twist on nature documentary, the old-school format of super-8 offers a stunningly impressionistic, hopeful vision of our footprint upon the world.

Forget ultra-high-definition cameras, macro imagery and drone shots. Compiled exclusively from new super-8 footage shot on vintage cameras in 25 countries across five continents, Super Nature offers an unexpectedly rich, gloriously lo-fi view of the world, captured by 40 local volunteer cinematographers – including Australians Oliver Birt, Caitlin Henderson and Fraser Johnston – who filmed whatever caught their eye, providing commentary as they saw fit. From Welsh puffins and Patagonian whales to Italian mountain ranges and Indigenous Brazilian communities, Super Nature is a global love letter to nature, written in all the textures of the human heart.

It’s a testament to Ed Sayers’s lifelong passion for super-8 that he could craft such a coherent narrative from these disparate vignettes, shot by super-8 aficionados as well as biologists, conservationists and environmental activists. Sharing his vision was Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Amy; Senna, MIFF 2011), who was so inspired by Sayers’s pitch that he came on board as executive producer. Despite our planet’s obvious challenges, Super Nature is full of compassion and hope for its future, reconnecting us to our world through the nostalgic intimacy and vibrant immediacy of its format.

Content: Melbourne International Film Festival