Elementa

Elementa
Director: Richard Sidey | 43min | 2020 | New Zealand

In Wildness is the preservation of the World.
– Henry David Thoreau

'Elementa' completes Richard's 'Speechless' trilogy, which began a decade ago with 'Landscapes at the World's Ends' (Doc Edge 2011) and continued with 'Speechless: The Polar Realm' (Doc Edge 2015).

Deep in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest lives a rare, unique and seldom seen creature, a black bear with white fur, known locally as Moksgm’ol (the ghost bear). According to local mythology, the creator Raven asked the black bear to make one-in-ten cubs white, as a reminder of the Great White Time, when the world was covered in ice.

Filmed over five years on seven continents, 'Elementa' is Sidey’s second collaboration with musician Boreal Taiga ('Landscapes at the World's Ends').

Ice, fire, earth, air and æther collide in this artistic, environmental feature, visually guided by compelling cinematography from Earth's wildest lands. Experience the vast wilderness of the white continent and ancient rainforests, to the revered power of the world’s oceans and erupting volcanoes.

The film is a black-and-white visual meditation of all that is wild – an escape and a chance to reconnect with the wilderness.

Prepare yourself for full immersion. Explore, Uplift, Reconnect.

Three of Richard Sidey's previous films have won awards at previous editions of Doc Edge:
'Aeon' (2005): Best NZ Short
'Landscapes at the World's Ends' (2011): Special Mention
'Speechless: The Polar Realm' (2015): Best NZ Cinematography