19th Madurai Film Festival - Patrick Rouxel Retrospective

19th Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2017

Retrospective II – Patrick Rouxel

Patrick Rouxel is an independent filmmaker dedicated to rainforest conservation and animal welfare. His films are about giving a voice to the rainforest and the inevitable victims of deforestation. They are both a tribute to beauty of rainforest and its wildlife, and a means of raising awareness of the suffering and loss inflicted by human development, corporate greed and consumerism.

Films to be screened :

Alma : 65 min

Alma is an insight into the Amazon forest and the industries destroying it. The film is a poetical ride on beauty of the Brazilian rainforest and the suffering that accompanies its destruction. Alma is a reflection on the value of life. It reveals what lies behind products such as meat, leather, dairy foods and exotic hardwood. The film invites us to question our consumer habits, to open our eyes and hearts, and allow room for empathy. 

Green : 48 min

Her name is Green, she is alone in a world that doesn't belong to her. She is a female orangutan, victim of deforestation and resource exploitation. This film is an emotional journey with Green's final days. It is a visual ride presenting the treasures of rainforest biodiversity in Indonesia and the devastating impacts of logging and land clearing for the palm oil plantations and the pulp and paper industry. 

Tears of wood: 26 min 

A visual essay on the extraordinary biodiversity of the Indonesian rainforest. This silent film follows the peaceful wondering of a dominant male orangutan, showing the forest from his point of view. It also underlines the link between tropical hardwood and the trees of the rainforest. This is the first film I made when I decided to do my part to help rainforest conservation in 2003. The title of the film is also the name of this website because it seems to capture the essence of all my films.

The Cathedral Forest: 45 min

In Gabon, Africa, the Minkebe Conservation Project team is dedicated to the preservation of a vast forest of 32 000 km2 which holds the largest population of forest elephants in the world. This forest is undergoing many threats: logging, mining, bush meat hunting and the poaching of elephants for ivory. The Cathedral Forest is a call to the citizens of the world to help WWF Gabon in its efforts to preserve the Minkebe forest.

Life is One: 52 min

“Life is One” is the story of three orphan sun bear cubs from Indonesia and their return to the wild. The story is told by the foster parent of these cubs who accompanied them to their independence. The viewer is placed in total immersion with the bears in the rainforest and discovers how beautiful, joyful and energetic they are. The film is a tribute to life on earth, a reminder that we are all connected and that we owe respect and compassion to those we share the planet with.