The Last Tepui - Unexplored Peaks: interview with directors Renan Ozturk and Taylor Rees
The Last Tepui - Unexplored Peaks
The Last Tepui - Unexplored Peaks is part of a series of brand new documentaries released on Earth Day on April 22nd. Disney Plus and National Geographic (you can buy the Giant of the Sea documentary by National Geographic in Blu-Ray format on this page that you find on Amazon) have decided to celebrate this event by making available some wonderful documentaries that aim to demonstrate the importance of conservation of the incredibly diverse biodiversity that animates the various natural environments of our planet.Subscribe now to Disney + for € 8.99 per month or € 89.90 per year With this in mind, the team that he created The Last Tepui - Unexplored Peaks has set himself some decidedly ambitious goals: to climb a rock face that no one has ever dared to climb before and to do it for a very specific reason: to demonstrate or disprove a scientific theory. You can find our review of The Last Tepui - Unexplored Peaks here.
The Last Tepui - Unexplored Peaks: interview with co-director Renan Ozturk
We had the opportunity to interview the two directors of the documentary, namely Renan Ozturk and Taylor Rees. The following is the report of our meetings with both directors. Let's start with an interview with Renan Ozturk, climber, landscape architect and photographer of National Geographic.| ); }
I started out as a landscape painter, living "on the road" and climbing in different places, mostly in the national parks of the U.S.A, living in rocky caves, to learn to paint and climb, and in some way, as time went on, I took part in larger expeditions. It was when the technology in video cameras made them smaller. This way, you can take these amazing cameras with you even on expeditions to such remote places, and really be able to come back with stories to share. that's how we made films like Meru, starring Jimmy Chin and Conan Anker (with whom Ozturk won the Audience Choice Award at Sundance in 2015). This has been a shift in my career that has allowed me to tell more stories that focus more on conservation and positive change, like The Last Tepui.
What was the most amazing part of your amazing journey?
I think the most surprising part of The Last Tepui's journey was unexpected: it wasn't the climbs, nor the incredible views, but it was all the little moments with Bruce, Doctor Bruce Means ( biologist), which is the real center around which the documentary revolves: his career. We were there to support him and to show the biodiversity of the place. He is 80 years old, and he had a hard time moving around the jungle, as you could see in the documentary. It was quite dramatic, but he continued the journey, always finding something that was new to science, or explaining some complex relationships, so this was the most beautiful and unexpected thing of the whole trip: these moments with Bruce, when we he said how complex this ecosystem is, even in the smallest water ponds. - th_culturapop_d_mh3_1 slot id: th_culturapop_d_mh3 "); } We can see the difficulties, but also the great passion of him: we really see him in The Last Tepui. Let's now turn to a curiosity: is there a list of animal species that you have discovered? Where can we find it?
I'm sure NatGeo has the complete list, but among these there are two species of frogs, a lizard. There is a list of the new species that we discovered on our journey, so knowing how much variety out there is really crazy, which is why I love being involved in documentaries that introduce people to places like this. You can spend a week there documenting all these species that are new to science, and there are few places left in the world with this biodiversity, and we have to work really hard to protect them. It's really special: I don't know of any other places in the world like this one.
Here's my last question: How does it feel to climb a rock face that no one has ever climbed before, and for such a good reason?
I think all of us, like Alex (Honnold, professional climber) and Mark (Synott, head of the expedition), have climbed rock faces that no one has ever touched before, but the fact that we did it for the science and to help the career of Bruce (Means), who has dedicated his life to research, made it something new for us. I don't think we can compare this experience to any of our other climbs, even for Alex, so I think it will have an impact on the rest of our careers. I don't think we will be able to embark on a journey that does not include science and conservation work.
Thank you very much. Our time is up. He was very kind and I'm really happy to have had the opportunity to interview her, so thank you very much for her time.
Thanks a lot to you!
The Last Tepui - Unexplored Peaks: interview with co-director Taylor Rees
Good evening! I am very happy to be here with you, thanks for your time. Let's start: when did you realize that you wanted to make the leap from simply watching documentaries to directing them?
What a great question! When I was in graduate school and studying ecology I had the opportunity to direct a nature film festival (the Yale Environmental Film Festival) for several years, so I watched hundreds of nature documentaries, reviewed them for the festival, and always have I wanted to be a real storyteller, to be behind the camera, so when I was able to do it in graduate school, it was at least ten years ago, I made the decision to start directing documentaries myself.
Thank you. The Last Tepui shows very well the importance of biodiversity for our planet, but how can you explain it to us in her own words?
The integrity of an ecosystem really depends on its diversity: when biodiversity is erased and only a few animal and plant species remain, the ecosystem can become more exposed to disease, collapse, and not only this: we have much to learn from places rich in biodiversity: many of our medicines and the knowledge we have on our planet come from these places, such as the Galápagos Islands and the Tepui, so there are many reasons why an ecosystem that has true biodiversity is important to our planet.
Thank you. What are the difficulties in shooting real climbing scenes?
The first difficulty is that it is not possible to carry a lot of equipment with you. It is impressive how smaller cameras can film images with quality comparable to those of larger cameras. Also, look how Alex Honnold is up there, plotting a course, climbing, and the crew that filmed him had to do his own movements, while at the same time they had to handle a lot of equipment too, and this can be a real challenge, but I think we had an amazing team.
We got to see the team at work and your documentary is really great, I loved it, it's moving and it really makes people understand why biodiversity is so important to our planet, so thank you really. And now my last question: I'm going to ask you the same question I asked Renan Ozturk a little while ago: what was the most amazing part of your incredible journey?
I think it was really a great privilege to visit such an extreme environment, to see the Earth in its complexity, to try to survive in a hostile environment, but we did it together with a large community of indigenous people of the place. We have traveled with many of them through the jungle, and have seen how they survive there. Everything they do, as a community and as people, in a historical moment like this, was truly an incredible experience for which I am very grateful.
Thank you very much, but now our time is up.
It was a pleasure to meet you, Lucia! Hello.
It was also for me! Hello.
The new National Geographic documentary The Last Tepui - Unexplored Peaks is available for viewing from April 22, on the occasion of Earth Day, exclusively on Disney Plus.
