The ViewFinder
NEWSLETTER : ISSUE NO 64, JUNE 2011
[R.I.P][NEW DISCOVERIES ][CHANGES AT VIEWFINDERS][NEW IMMIGRATION RULE IN UGANDA][MIGRATION NEWS][MOTHER NATURE GETTING HER OWN BACK AGAIN]
R.I.P.
It was with deep sadness that we received the news that Adrian Warren passed away on the night of 5 June. He had been diagnosed with cancer just before the last Wildscreen festival, and since then had been undergoing an aggressive series of chemo and radiotherapy treatments. He was determined to beat the disease, but in the end it proved too much.
Viewfinders would not exist if it had not been for Adrian. Way back in 1986, he enlisted Jean’s help on a little half hour birdwatching programme for the BBC, shortly followed by a three part series on The Great Rift. As a result of this, Jean formed Viewfinders in 1988. They kept in touch and worked together several times over the years, and more recently interviewed each other for the Wildfilmhistory website, at his lovely farmhouse in Somerset.
Adrian and Hugh Maynard on our first film together in 1986
Adrian’s achievements were wide-ranging. From early days as a researcher, he rose to the rank of producer in the BBC before becoming a founder member of the IMAX Natural History Unit under Chris Parsons. He directed the IMAX film on mountain gorillas in Rwanda before joining Partridge Films as a cameraman. Once at the right end of the camera, his eye for a picture became very evident, and he made some wonderful films for Partridge, Devillier Donegan, Tigress Productions, National Geographic and others. His favourite areas were eastern Africa, Rwanda, Namibia, Madagascar and the tepuis of Venezuela and Guyana. His love of flight and heights led to his designing a mount for filming aerials from a small Cessna, and together with his long time partner Dae he produced many books of aerial photographs from all over the UK. He will be sadly missed by people all over the world, and our deepest sympathies go to Dae and to his sons Lukey, Oliver and Sean.
CHANGES AT VIEWFINDERS
We are now able to announce that we are merging with Sunworld Safaris, who have been doing all our bookings and meeting all our transport needs for the last 12 years. This is a long term plan to ensure that the company lives on, even as Jean tries (unsuccessfully so far) to edge into some kind of semi-retirement. After 25 years of ‘being there’ for film makers of all shapes and descriptions, time marches on and the old girl isn’t getting any younger. The prospect of answering up to 200 emails each day into her seventies and beyond is not quite what she has in mind, so Jean will be handing over the reins slowly, gradually and very meticulously over a period of three or four years until satisfied that Gabriele and Joanne from Sunworld are able to continue the job. Mia will remain for the foreseeable future, and despite her amazing talent for stills photography will still devote most of her time and expertise to the company.
NEW IMMIGRATION RULE IN UGANDA
The Ugandan authorities have brought in a new regulation for British passport holders. Anyone entering the country on a UK passport must have 12 months validity remaining on their passport. At the moment all other passport holders only require 6 months validity, but this could change.
MIGRATION NEWS
The migration has begun – large numbers of wildebeest and zebra have crossed into Kenya via Sand River and are currently around Keekorok Lodge. This is early, probably due to the poor rainfall in the Serengeti over the last few weeks. There are still large numbers in the Grumeti/Ikoma area, so the animals already in the Mara are only the beginning, and the rest will follow soon. In the Mara, March was very, very dry and the rains in April/May were inadequate. This, coupled with the huge numbers of Maasai cattle in the reserve, means that grazing will be hard to find.
MOTHER NATURE GETTING HER OWN BACK AGAIN
Volcanic eruptions in Iceland and New Zealand have had a devastating effect on travel over the last year, but somehow we felt safe in East Africa - clearly a false sense of security, given that we live on the mother of all faults, the Great Rift Valley. So a volcano in Eritrea that erupted on 13 June, sending ash clouds over the Sudan, should have come as no surprise.
