By: Colette Gunson (Vancouver Correspondent, Canada)

December 2008

When Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit arrived in Gold River, BC (about 60 km north of Tofino) to work on a magazine article about a baby killer whale that had become separated from his family and had surfaced in Nootka Sound, they planned to stay for just a few short weeks. Little did they know that three years later the little orca that the locals called ‘Luna’ would change their lives forever and that they would have a feature-length documentary to share his incredible story with the rest of the world.

As writers and filmmakers, this husband and wife team has traveled the world documenting relationships between humans and animals. Together they have produced and directed over twenty stories for National Geographic. Saving Luna, which has already garnered 17 international awards, is by far their biggest project to date, and judging from the way Michael speaks of their time in Gold River, it was one of the most transcendent experiences of their lives.

Orcas normally spend their entire lives with their families, but this little whale was lost. After hearing about a whale that was trying to befriend people along the west coast of Vancouver Island, Suzanne and Michael pitched the story to their editor at Smithsonian Magazine. As they began to work on their assignment it quickly became evident that this was a story much bigger than they had initially anticipated.

Luna was at the centre of a tug-of-war between several groups who all had different ideas as to how best to react to a whale that was engaging humans. Most of the residents of the coastal fishing village loved Luna, but there were a few who saw him as a pest. The government wanted to keep people away from Luna and relocate him while the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations tried to resist the move.

When asked how the magazine article grew into a feature-length documentary, Michael explains, “What made this film possible…it’s really ironic, was that we got an assignment to write a book.” With a book contract giving them the means to rent a small apartment in Gold River, they were able to closely document Luna’s story over the next two years.

With a background in filmmaking, Suzanne and Michael often used a video camera as part of their book research. As the footage began to accumulate they began to think, “wow, there’s really a film here”, commented Michael. Video, it turned out, was a very effective medium for conveying the emotional connection that Luna seemed to have with people.

When I asked Michael to describe his first encounter with Luna in a phone interview earlier this week, I could almost see his eyes light up as he began to recount the story “We were told that if you were driving your boat faster than eight knots you could stay away from him and we were very determined not to interact with him because at that time we thought it was the wrong thing to do,” he said, describing the trek in a 12-foot-long zodiac to the area where Luna lived. “We went dashing across and we could see him in the distance.”

Then Luna, using his "stealth whale" tactic of sneaking up on boaters that tried to keep their distance, appeared. “So we’re zooming along and just BOOM! He explodes right beside the boat, just boom! We’re going fast and he’s going fast and his skin is touching the side of the boat—he’s not moving the boat, he’s not jostling the boat—nothing, he’s just zoom right beside the boat,” he exclaimed.

“And we couldn’t believe it, I mean up to this point we had only seen whales as just spouts in the distance, you know this little plume of white out there…and all of a sudden this young kid whale explodes right beside our boat and the camera’s wet, our faces are soaked, and you could sort of smell the fishiness of his breath…it’s like he exploded into our lives and changed everything almost right at that moment.”

Although the film warns against anthropomorphizing Luna, it is hard not to see human-like emotions as he tries to play with people. He really seems to need companionship and when he couldn’t get it the normal way—from other whales—he turned to people instead.

“Killer whales have social needs that are as strong as those of humans,” says Lance Barrett-Lennard, a marine mammal scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium who is interviewed in the film. “In fact, I think I’d stick my neck out and say they really are stronger than humans. I’m sure you could damage a whale psychologically by depriving it of contact.”

How are we supposed to react when a wild animal seems to want to make friends? Do we extend a welcoming hand recognizing their need for companionship or should we keep our distance and try not to interfere letting nature take its course?

Many films with an animal protagonist attempt to paint a picture of a universe where people and wild animals can be friends and happy endings are almost inevitable, but perhaps Luna’s story is a reminder that in the real world the relationship between people and animals is much more complicated.

As I child I remember feeling much more connected to animals than I do now. As we grow up we seem to grow apart—whether by accident or by necessity I really can’t be sure. Saving Luna triggers that part of our emotional selves that longs to feel connected—to other creatures, to other humans and to the universe as a whole. The film feels bigger than it initially lets on. Michael and Suzanne sensed it almost immediately and the audience response from around the globe confirms their initial hunch.

Saving Luna is more than a story about a little whale, it’s a story about friendship and about our place as humans on this planet and our relationship with the creatures with whom we share it.

Saving Luna opens in Vancouver on December 5th at The Ridge Theatre (3131 Arbutus Street). The filmmakers will attend all opening weekend screenings and participate in audience Q&A's (Friday, Saturday & Sunday, December 5th-7th).

Michael and Suzanne’s book of the same name is scheduled for release in 2009 by Penguin Group (Canada).

Saving Luna: Co-directed by Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit, Mountainside Films (Sidney, BC)

Written by :

Processed by Editor

 

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed