NOMINATIONS GALORE: TERRA MATER STUDIOS PRODUCTIONS HIGHLY RATED AT THE JACKSON WILD MEDIA AWARDS 2022
Jackson Hole/Vienna. Terra Mater Studios are proud to announce they have received ten nominations at Jackson Wild – widely seen as the “Oscars” of the wildlife film industry. From feature to natural history documentary to shortform YouTube video – seven productions have been chosen as finalists in nine categories by the international judges.
Considered the highest bar of achievement in natural history filmmaking, the Jackson Wild Media Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in nature, science, and conservation storytelling. The Vienna-based Terra Mater Studios were nominated ten times:
With three nominations in total, the latest Terra Mater Studios feature “Patrick and the Whale” is a hot contender for an award. Using stunning underwater footage, the feature film follows Patrick Dykstra, who has dedicated his life to filming and diving with whales. Patrick explores the fascinating nature of the sperm whale, attempting to shine a light on its intelligence and complexity, as well as highlighting its current and past relationship with humankind. “Patrick and the Whale” is nominated in the categories “Human Planet – Long Form”, “Onscreen Personality” and “Feature”.
In the category “Writing”, Terra Mater Studios secured half of the nominations. Ruth Berry wrote the fascinating and entertaining script for the documentary “Secrets in the Scat”, in which wildlife biologist Scott Burnett, aka Scat Man, looks for the facts in the faeces of endangered species. Throughout the film, he gets to investigate some amazing s–t, unravel its secrets, and meet the makers. Animal poo is pure gold for researchers: a window into ecology without any harm to an animal – or a scientist.
The second “Writing” nomination goes to Mark Deeble for his script for “The Elephant and the Termite” – an intriguing story about a remarkable relationship between elephants and termites as they create a watering hole – a green oasis which is central to every animal’s life in arid regions across Africa.
The natural history documentary was also nominated in the category “Cinematography”. Many of the exciting behaviour patterns and interactions have never been filmed before and some are new to science – the result of the filmmakers spending four years filming.
The other Terra Mater Studios documentaries that have reached the final round of the world’s most prestigious nature film event are “Miami Wild” in the “Original Music Score” category and “Hippo King” with a nomination for “Innovation in Green Production”. “Eyes of the Orangutan”, the eye-opening Terra Mater Studios production about the dark side of wildlife tourism, has been nominated by the jury for best “Conservation – Long Form” film.
This year Terra Mater Studios have, for the first time, submitted a short form production and been rewarded with a nomination by the jury. “How Sperm Whales Learned to Outsmart their Hunters”, a video from the company’s YouTube channel “Terra Mater”, is listed in the category “Animal Behavior – Short Form”.
“Learning of the ten nominations was a fantastic moment for us,” says Walter Köhler. “After the disappointment in 2020, when COVID-19 prevented the organizers of Jackson Wild from holding the festival in Austria’s Neusiedler See National Park, we are overjoyed that we can now be part of the event in our mother country – and with so many nominations as well.” The Jackson Wild Summit 2022 will be held from September 26-30.
Competition was fierce this year: Over 350 films entered the competition in 2022, with over 600 category entries from 26 different countries around the world. Finalists were selected by more than 150 international judges who screened over 3,000 hours of media.
Winners will be announced during the Grand Teton Awards Gala on Thursday, September 29, 2022 at the Jackson Wild Summit in Burgenland, Austria.