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RNZ News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Keith Scholey: 44 years working with David Attenborough
Over the past 100 years, oceans have progressed from being a complete mystery to being regarded as vital for our survival, according to Sir David Attenborough. That's almost Sir David's lifetime. The 99-year-old's latest film Ocean with David Attenborough showcases the beauty, life and wonder of the ocean, as well as the increasing threats it faces. But the film also provides hope and a glimpse at what a revived ocean could look like in just 50 years. The film was released in cinemas to coincide with David Attenborough's 99th birthday. Keith Scholey is an Emmy and Bafta award-winning natural history and environmental filmmaker who has worked with Sir David for 44 years. Keith directed Ocean with David Attenborough and speaks with Susie. Keith Scholey and David Attenborough on location while filming 'Ocean with David Attenborough'. (PHOTO: Supplied/Keith Scholey © Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios) A baitball still from Ocean with David Attenborough. (PHOTO: Supplied/Keith Scholey © Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios) Film poster for Ocean with David Attenborough. (PHOTO: Supplied) A sheepshead wrasse in a kelp forest in California. (PHOTO: Supplied / Olly Scholey) A blue whale mother and calf in the Gulf of California, Mexico. (PHOTO: Supplied/Olly Scholey) A pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins swimming across the coral reefs of the Red Sea, Egypt. (PHOTO: Supplied / Olly Scholey) A clown anemonefish on a coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. (PHOTO: Supplied / Olly Scholey) A clown anemonefish on a coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. (PHOTO: Supplied / Olly Scholey)
Sunday World
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
David Attenborough's latest doc could be the 99-year-old's best yet
RALLYING CRY | This is one of the passionate documentaria most ambitious projects to date – and it is stunning Now in his 100th year after celebrating his 99th birthday this week, broadcasting legend David Attenborough has another story to share with us - and it might be one of his greatest yet. The passionate and no-nonsense documentarian is bringing one of his most ambitious projects to date to cinemas with this feature-length tale. Ocean is a rallying cry for action, a story of righteous anger in some of its details, but primarily a tale of hope in the power of nature. It helps that it features some of the most stunning and groundbreaking images of the natural world ever brought to our screens, and some highly entertaining, charismatic and knowledgeable contributors. Using the latest cutting-edge filmmaking technology, Ocean takes audiences deep below the surface of some of the world's most unchartered waters. Coral reefs, kelp forests, dolphins, sea turtles, krill and albatrosses practically line up on screen for their close-ups in images that are both jaw-dropping and intimate. A bait ball in the open ocean near Azores. (Credit: Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios/Doug Anderson) There is darkness, too. In a filmmaking first, we see the shocking impact of bottom-trawling on the ocean's sea bed, the colour of underwater life being drained from the screen before our eyes. A film on a mission without ever feeling preachy, Ocean is a no-holds-barred account of what humanity is at risk of losing - and a positive and hopeful rallying cry about how some of our oceans are already returning to their former glory. A humpback whale breaches. (Credit: Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios/Steve Benjamin) Ocean comes to our cinemas just as the UN moots the idea of getting countries to sign up to 30x30 - a plan to designate 30% of the world's oceans as protected areas by 2030. In some parts of the world, this is already being enacted - and the results, to Attenborough's joy, are remarkable. Several positive examples are cited but the most fascinating is the recovery of Papahanaumokuakea, north of Hawaii, currently the largest fully protected area on the planet. New footage recorded by the filmmaking team depicts an abundance of life above and below the waves, from whale sharks to the mōlī seabird, which went from being perilously close to extinction to becoming the largest albatross colony in the world. Read more Our oceans, Attenborough reckons, are tougher than we thought. 'After living for nearly a hundred years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea,' he says. 'Wherever we have given the ocean time and space, it has recovered faster and on a greater scale than we dared to imagine possible. And it has the power to go even further. 'When I first saw the sea as a young boy, it was thought of as a vast wilderness to be tamed and mastered for the benefit of humanity. Now, as I approach the end of my life, we know the opposite is true.' The Verdict : One of the great documentaries - a stunning looking tale of the power of nature from one of the screen's greatest storytellers.
The Herald Scotland
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Sir David Attenborough's new documentary
It also highlights the wonder of natural habitats, from kelp forests to coral reefs, and the need to protect them. Here is all you need to know about the new film and how to watch it. What is the new David Attenborough documentary? Sir David Attenborough's new documentary is entitled Ocean With David Attenborough. It is a Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios co-production that "delivers his greatest message of hope". A tease for the film reads: "Ocean with David Attenborough takes viewers on a breathtaking journey showing there is nowhere more vital for our survival, more full of life, wonder, or surprise, than the ocean. "In the film, the celebrated broadcaster and filmmaker reveals how his lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. 🎬🍿💙 Rolling out the blue carpet… This evening, The King attended the Film Premiere of 'Ocean with David Attenborough'. The film highlights how the ocean has shaped the world, and why the future of the planet is intertwined with the health of the ocean. 🌊His Majesty, as… — The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 6, 2025 "Through spectacular sequences featuring coral reefs, kelp forests and the open ocean, Attenborough shares why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable and flourishing." It will feature the ocean as it has "never been seen before", showcasing the "wonder of life under the seas" as well as the "challenges facing our ocean". On the new film, Sir David said: 'My lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. "Over the last hundred years, scientists and explorers have revealed remarkable new species, epic migrations and dazzling, complex ecosystems beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man. "In this film, we share some of those wonderful discoveries, uncover why our ocean is in such poor health, and, perhaps most importantly, show how it can be restored to health. "This could be the moment of change. Nearly every country on Earth has just agreed, on paper, to achieve this bare minimum and protect a third of the ocean. Together, we now face the challenge of making it happen.' The film premiere took place on a 'blue carpet' at the Southbank Centre in London on Tuesday. King Charles was one of many who attended, and said he 'can't believe' Sir David Attenborough's age, adding that it was 'always a pleasure' to see him. King Charles III and Sir David Attenborough at the film premiere (Image: Alistair Grant/PA) The King is a patron of the Marine Biological Association and has advocated for protecting the environment and sustainability, including in the oceans, for more than five decades. How to watch the new David Attenborough documentary David Attenborough's new documentary film is set for release as a global cinema event from May 8, which also coincides with the iconic broadcaster's 99th birthday. The film will be available globally on National Geographic, Disney+ and Hulu later this year. The release is also timed ahead of World Ocean Day, on June 8 and ahead of a major UN ocean conference in France from June 9 to 13, where world leaders decide the fate of our ocean. All of David Attenborough's documentaries and how to watch Sir David has created a vast number of documentaries that were celebrated and recognised with numerous awards, including multiple BAFTA and Emmy awards. Many of these are available to watch online on BBC iPlayer, including his iconic Blue Planet and Planet Earth series. Recommended reading: The BBC added a number of Sir David Attenborough's iconic shows from the archive to mark World Oceans Day in 2022. These included Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives, Attenborough's series about fossils and palaeontology, which has not been shown on the BBC since 1989, as well as seminal 1990 series The Trials Of Life. David Attenborough's new documentary film Ocean With David Attenborough will be in cinemas from May 8.
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Scotsman
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Film reviews: The Surfer Ocean with David Attenborough Desire: The Carl Craig Story
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Surfer (15) ★★★★ Ocean with David Attenborough (PG) ★★★★ The Uninvited (15) ★★★★ Desire: The Carl Craig Story (15) ★★★ If surfing is a state of mind — to paraphrase Patrick Swayze's guru-like surfer in action classic Point Break — then Nicholas Cage's new film The Surfer explores what might happen if said mind is thoroughly unhinged. Dispensing with his own Zen-like surfing-as-a-metaphor-for-life speech in the opening minutes, Cage's titular character — we never learn his real name — soon finds himself battered not by the waves, but by land-bound forces he can't control as his efforts to buy his former childhood home overlooking a primo Australian surfing beach run headfirst into his own precarious financial situation and a cult-like group of psycho locals intent on making Cage's outsider suffer when he nonchalantly tries to surf their break with his teenage son. Nicolas Cage in The Surfer | Contributed At first the hostility seems like a bit of macho posturing on both sides. But it soon takes on more sinister intent as Cage's reality appears to fracture and he spirals into vagrancy and violence, trapped like the very rat he at one point tries to force on his tormentors, whose own real-life jobs add additional levels of satire to this increasingly surreal psychological horror freak-out when they're revealed late on. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Like director Lorcan Finnegan's 2019 film Vivarium, The Surfer turns out to be something of a puzzle box movie, one fuelled — like Vivarium — by the stresses of buying property, but which also cannily riffs on the 1971 Australian New Wave classic Wake in Fright to explore a crisis in masculinity in a rapidly changing world. The material certainly brings out the best in Cage, whose acting pyrotechnics are put to disturbing use dismantling his middle-aged character's outwardly successful life piece by piece. Ocean With David Attenborough | © Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios Ocean with David Attenborough finds the 99-year-old force of nature squaring up for a fight in an epic documentary that simultaneously extols the wonders of the ocean and underscores the urgent action required to protect it. At the heart of the film is his conviction that the oceans of the world hold the key to alleviating the climate crisis, with scientific evidence pointing to the crucial role marine life plays in capturing carbon and producing oxygen, and coastal regions thriving when sustainable fishing is enforced. The problem is the industrial levels of destruction happening every day thanks to trawlers dredging up the ocean floors and destroying delicate ecosystems as part of the global fishing industry's ongoing efforts to maximise its catches amid ever dwindling levels of fish and shellfish. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Footage — presumably covert — of the damage being wrought is properly enraging, but Attenborough is no pessimist. His ability to lay out a clear-headed strategy for recovery by pointing to past environmental actions that have successfully demonstrated humanity's capacity to move away from destructive behaviour, not to mention all the scientific evidence regarding the ocean's own regenerative properties when left alone, offer solid reasons for hope. Meanwhile, the usual glorious images of the natural world we're all familiar with from his decades-long broadcasting career look even more resplendent on the big screen. Veteran movie actor Lois Smith has racked up credits with everyone from James Dean and Elia Kazan to Steven Spielberg and Wes Anderson, so when she turns up in The Uninvited as a forgotten actor called Helen who gatecrashes a Hollywood party in a confused state thinking that she still lives in the home she once owned in her heyday, her presence packs a poignant punch. It also catalyses a dark night of the soul for the party's attendees, not least hosts Sammy (Walton Goggins) and Rose (Elizabeth Reiser), whose marriage is soon revealed to be hanging on by a thread as the presence of the elderly Helen stirs up resentments about their respective careers (Sammy's an agent, Rose is an actor and mother), as well as existential questions about the ephemeral nature of fame and success in an industry that pays too much attention to such metrics. Writer/director Nadia Connors (who's married to Goggins in real life) offers a sharp insider view of this privileged, but frequently over-leveraged, tier of the film industry, feeding Reiser most of the best lines to underscore the casual misogyny of the business for women over 40. Rufus Sewell (as a megalomaniacal director client of Sammy's) and Pedro Pascal (as an old flame of Rose's whose movie stardom eclipsed her career) bring additional weight to the drama, but it's Smith who anchors it in something meaningful. Desire: The Carl Craig Story does what its title promises: serves up an intimate portrait of the pioneering Detroit techno producer whose work has been key to shaping dance music over the last 30 years. The film shows how he built on the legacy of the previous generation's Derek May to help broaden what dance music could be, his influence spreading to the club scenes in Britain and Europe just as EDM was starting to become a global phenomenon. Intercutting talking head interviews, tour diaries and a wealth of archival footage, it doubles up as a lively insight into an under-covered area of music history.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How David Attenborough's key life lesson inspired new film Ocean
After living on the planet for nearly 100 years, David Attenborough has shared the life lesson he has learned in new film Ocean. The national treasure turns 99 on Thursday 8 May, the same day his new documentary is out in cinemas in the UK. Attenborough – whose TV career has spanned seven decade – worked on his 98th birthday on BBC's Asia. In the trailer for Ocean, Attenborough says: "After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea. "Through the course of my life we have been on a voyage of ocean discovery. Only now are we understanding what it means for the future of our world." Ocean With David Attenborough released 8th May 2025 The documentary film is an exploration of the ocean, the challenges it faces and the chance for restoration. It transports you to oceans across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania featuring coral reefs and kelp forests. One of the main problems the film tackles head on is industrial fishing method trawling. Attenborough's film is a call to action. In his own words, he explains what the documentary film explores, see the trailer below. Watch the trailer for Ocean with David Attenborough "What we have found could change everything, for once you've truly seen the sea, you'll never look at earth in the same way again," he says. "The ocean is our planet's life support system and our greatest ally against climate catastrophe." Attenborough adds: "Yet it's at a cross roads. We are draining the life from our ocean. Today it is in such poor health, I would find it hard not to lose hope were it not for the most remarkable discovery of all. The ocean can recover faster than we had ever imagined. It can bounce back to life." It is not all totally bleak though, as Attenborough reveals there is hope. He says: "It may not just recover, but thrive beyond anything anyone alive has ever seen. This is the story of our ocean and how we must write its next chapter together. For if we save the sea, we save our world. After a lifetime of filming our planet I'm sure that nothing is more important." Toby Nowlan, Keith Scholey and Colin Butfield direct the film and Nowlan produced it. Ocean with David Attenborough is a Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios co-production. It is in association with All3Media International, National Geographic and Minderoo Pictures. Ocean with David Attenborough is his latest film. It comes just months after the release of Attenborough's Asia with the BBC in November last year. The series' producer Matthew Wright had great praise for the presenter and shared how he had worked on his 98th birthday. He told Yahoo UK: "David is irreplaceable. He's a unique human being. We've got a fantastic cast of up and coming — and some very established — presenters, but they have their own style, and they do their own thing. He's a unique character and long may we continue to work with the great man and, for as long as he wants to work, we will work with him." An adult and young Asian elephant feeding on the weeds that grow in between the tea plants on a plantation in Western Ghats, India. (BBC) Also, Webb said: "It's just brilliant to be able to work with David. We were working with David on his 98th birthday. The respect for that man is off the scale... The fact he's still going, still setting an incredible bar for what he does and how he does it. At 98 years old, I just take my hat off to him." He added: "David contributes so much to the final script that ends up being a narration. [It's] a two-way process where we will write a guide script, and then there's a constant dialogue backwards and forwards with David as we hone it with his input. "So what you're getting is very much something that feels personal to David, very much his take on things. David is doing so much more than just providing his amazing voice. He's also providing his own tone, his own touch of magic and sparkle that comes through his own writing." Ocean with David Attenborough is out in cinemas on 8 May. It will also be available on Disney+ and Hulu later this year.
