Discovery’s “Tigerland” Roars onto Screens with an Urgent Message

Protection is vital because the numbers are dismal amp160A century ago an estimated 100000 tigers lived in the wild today there are 3890 amp160Committed to preserving tigers Discovery is supporting a 37million acre preserve in Bikin National Park for tigers and will match donations up to 250000 which can be made by texting amp8220TIGERLANDamp8221 to 707070 or visiting Project CAT through the end of the yearamp8220Weamp8217ve always been a company that told stories and tried to influence peopleamp8221 Discovery CEO David Zaslav told those attending a screening in Soho Wednesday night where each seat in the theater of The Crosby Street Hotel had a stuffed tiger waiting amp160Zaslav recalled how his friend Tom Brokaw reminded him that we are all stewards of Earth amp160The film does that with viewers without the usual talking heads or charts and by adding art advertising graphics and sepiatinged clips all showing how tigers have long captivatedA fun montage shows tigers in art through the ages tiger beers their images used in car commercials comic books movies and of course an iconic one who was grrrreat amp160Tigers have long enchanted and been considered mystical and mysterious but Kauffman who won an Academy Award for his documentary Born into Brothels just wasn39t sure this was for himHe acknowledged it was not a lifelong dream to shoot a nature doc amp160amp8220Discovery Fisher Stevens a producer and RadicalMedia asked me if I would think about an idea about tigersamp8221 Kauffman told MediaVillage after the screening amp160amp8220I didnamp8217t know what to do amp160I donamp8217t want to do another film about death and destruction and poaching amp160They are great films but they have been doneamp8221While mulling over what he could do Kauffmanamp8217s son age six was cutting tigers out of paper amp160An epiphany hit amp8220What if you saw this through a childamp8217s eyesamp8221 Kauffman realized amp160amp8220That lens might be interestingamp8221It isThe child in the film is Jai a softspoken tween and the greatgrandson of the amp8220Tiger Manamp8221 Kailash Sankhalaamp160who fought to protect Indiaamp8217s tigers amp160Already enthralled by tigers Jai spends time in the forest with his uncle Amit a conservationist carrying on the work of his grandfather Sankhala amp160Slaying tigers was considered a great sport and trophy hunters carted tons of tiger carcasses from India amp160Combine that with the misguided notion that tiger body parts cure many ills and itamp8217s no wonder the tiger population dwindledTigerland reveals all details about Sankhala39s tireless campaigns weaving in news footage photos and his voluminous records amp160His work spurred the government to action stopping the killing amp160Although all of this is explained in the film the filmmaker noted amp8220My job isnamp8217t to tell people about this issue my job is to find the charactersamp8221And he did amp160We get to know these characters through their home movies and old photos perfectly woven into the documentary amp160Sankhala39s family in India fighting the good fight for decades gives the film memorable characters amp160In them we see people with a mission not only an issueKauffmanamp8217s crackerjack producers Xan Parker and Zara Duffy found themamp8220We wanted it to be artistic and lyrical and poetic not just amp8216no more poachingamp8217amp8221 explained Duffy who spent time in IndiaParker had just arrived in Russia in 20 below temps when she visited Pavel Fomenko a tiger conservationist amp160Heamp8217s long worked to protect the Siberian tiger in far east Russia where only 540 remain in the wildamp8220We landed in the afternoon and Pavel said amp8216We are going out to find a tiger cub Want to comeamp8217amp8221 Parker recalled smiling at the luck of that momentThe crew followed him as he tracked the tiger but didnamp8217t find her amp160Fomenko is a character in the purest sense of the word amp160Truly a tough guy he has followed tigers in remote stretches of snowLater while trying to vaccinate tigers Fomenko was mauled amp160He survived albeit scarred and in tremendous pain amp160The film crew returned and shot scenes of him with a healer amp160Undaunted Fomenko continues his workKauffman considers what he hopes is the result of his efforts amp160quotYou get out of a movie and you want to feel somethingamp8221 the filmmaker said amp160amp8220I know how I feel when I see a great movie amp160I can see the world from a different point of view amp160I feel like my world has expandedamp8221Tigerland premieres on Discovery March 30 at 9 pmClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Discovery’s “Tigerland” Roars onto Screens with an Urgent Message

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Jacqueline Cutler

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Discovery’s “Tigerland” Roars onto Screens with an Urgent Message

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Jacqueline Cutler

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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