I am very excited to share the news that our film Toad People is nominated for the Impact Award at the Wildscreen Festival’s Panda Awards that takes place in Bristol, UK from October 15 to 19, 2018. Nicknamed the “Wildlife Oscars,” the Wildscreen Festival is the world’s leading international festival celebrating storytelling about the natural world.
Toad People is the documentary I wrote and co-directed with Mike McKinlay. Produced by the Wilderness Committee, the film is a story about hope, community and the struggle to save the western toad. In British Columbia, toads are declining because of habitat loss, fragmentation, and roadkill. In different parts of the province, neighbours of all ages work hard to save the toads as they undertake their annual migration from the wetland habitat where they breed to the forest where they spend most of their lives. The film follows people’s passion for the natural world, their fighting spirit, and their struggles.
The film has been nominated in the Small Budget Impact category. The category had originally been smaller, but after seeing the submissions, the festival organisers decided to double the number of nominees and created two sub-categories – small and large budget, recognising that big impacts and change is possible on any budget. David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II is nominated in the Large Budget category.
This nomination demonstrates that any step one can take to protect a species, no matter how small it is, makes a difference and can be a life- changing experience. The film is not just about toads, but about residents who care about species at risk in their backyards and help restore the fragile connections between communities and the natural world.
The winners will be revealed at the Panda Awards Ceremony which will take place on 19 October at The Passenger Shed, Brunel’s Old Station, in Bristol. Mike and I will travel to Bristol and will fully attend the Festival. The film will be screened on Wednesday October 17, and I am also a speaker on a panel on conservation stories closer to home on Friday October 19.
Read news coverage so far on the nomination in the Chilliwack Progress and the Gulf Islands Driftwood. If you speak French, listen to my radio interview with Radio Canada.