Dr. Jane Goodall
Dr. Jane Goodall's legendary work with the chimpanzees
of Tanzania's Gombe Stream National Park will be the subject of
a remarkable giant screen film co-produced by the Science Museum
of Minnesota, Science North, and Discovery Place, Inc. Jane
Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees will take viewers on an extraordinary
trip deep into Gombe and across four decades of research to
experience the world of the chimpanzee as they've never seen it
before.
Jane Goodall's quest to work with live animals
in the wild began more than forty years ago. After hiring Jane
as an assistant on a fossil-hunting dig at Olduvai Gorge in
Africa, noted paleontologist and anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey
arranged for Jane to travel to Gombe to study the behavior of
the chimpanzees that make their home there. Her heart never
left. Jane's relationship with Gombe's chimpanzees goes beyond a
mere scientific interest - it has evolved into a genuine
affection and commitment to their survival. Fascinated by the
twenty-square-mile park and its charismatic inhabitants, Goodall
established what has become the longest continuously running
study of animals in the wild.
Jane Goodall's Wild
Chimpanzees invites viewers to be among the few humans who have
ventured into the realm of the wild chimpanzee to see them at
close range. Research has proven that chimpanzees and humans
share nearly 99% of the same DNA, making chimps the closest
relative to humans. Dr. Goodall's discoveries in forty years of
research at Gombe - including her groundbreaking observations of
chimpanzees making and using tools - have not only
revolutionized our understanding of chimps, but ultimately of
human behavior itself.
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Filming
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Beginning in May 1999, a giant screen film production team
accompanied Dr. Goodall on her walks through the forest in
search of her now-famous chimpanzee subjects: her longtime
friend Fifi, whom Jane met as an infant chimpanzee when she
first arrived at Gombe; Fifi's son Frodo, the alpha male of the
community whose aggression has placed him atop the ranks in his
community; Gremlin, her offspring Gaia, and the rare twins
Golden and Glitter; and Titan, a juvenile chimpanzee whose
attention-getting behavior may one day make him Frodo's
successor as the group's alpha male.
During their time
in Gombe, the crew shot rare footage of chimpanzees interacting
in their community group, playing with one another and with
their baboon neighbors, grooming, hunting, communicating, and
using tools to find food - giving viewers an opportunity to
wonder at the rich culture and complex social dynamics of
chimpanzees' incredible world. Combining this contemporary
footage with archival footage of Dr. Goodall in her earlier
years at Gombe, the film gives viewers a comprehensive look at
her historical work.
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Elizabeth Lonsdorf
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Viewers will also meet Elizabeth
Lonsdorf, a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota and one
of a new generation of researchers at Gombe. With a special
interest in the development of survival skills in young chimps,
Lonsdorf uses technology (in the form of video analysis) and
cutting-edge science (in the form of DNA testing) to expand upon
the observations Dr. Goodall has made throughout the years with
only a notepad and a pencil. Lonsdorf represents a new age of
scientists who have come to Africa to follow in Goodall's
footsteps.
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Preservation
Today, Dr. Goodall spends most of her time
touring, speaking to groups of all ages about our responsibility
to respect and preserve the planet's wild places. Normally
hesitant to take a break from her touring schedule and research
to work on film projects, Goodall agreed to work on Jane
Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees because it will be another tool with
which to spread her message of conservation and humans'
important role in making the world a better place to live.
Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees is the first and only giant
screen film on Jane Goodall. Viewers will be touched by the
history of her study and her passion for wildlife research and
global conservation. The film will give them an amazing sense of
closeness to the creatures who so nearly resemble humans, and it
will leave them wondering who will carry Jane's research and
advocacy into the twenty-first century.
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Production
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Jane Goodall's
Wild Chimpanzees is a co-production of the Science Museum of
Minnesota, Science North, and Discovery Place, in cooperation
with the Jane Goodall Institute. Presented by Bank of America,
the film has also received major funding from the National
Science Foundation. Executive producers are Mike Day, Science
Museum of Minnesota; Jim Marchbank, Science North, Sudbury,
Ontario; and Freda Nicholson, Discovery Place, Charlotte, North
Carolina. The film is directed by Dave Lickley and written by
Stephen Low. Director of photography is Reed Smoot, editor is
James Lahti, and line producer is Kathryn Liptrott.
The
film will have an initial exhibition in May 2002 at a number of
Canadian giant screen theaters, followed by a world premiere in
October 2002. Distribution of the film will be handled by the
Science Museum of Minnesota, one of the world's leading
producers of giant screen films, with more than 20 years of
experience in the field. Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees is the
eleventh project of the Science Museum's film production unit,
headquartered in the museum's St. Paul facility at 120 West
Kellogg Boulevard.
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