‘Terra’ asks for more respect for our planet
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IT took Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot two years to make the film “Terra,” a 90-minute documentary film that looks at the natural history of mankind and our existence on Earth.
In displaying a number of remarkable life-forms, the film explores how the human species should get to know the world they live in and how they should get along with other species.
There’s plenty of magnificent and breathtaking aerial footage, such as a bird’s eye view of an erupting volcano and the Amazon rain forest.
Pitiot was in Shanghai recently, and said that he had already worked with Yann Arthus-Bertrand on the awarding-winning documentary “Planet Ocean,” which reveals the mysteries of the seas and draws attention to environmental issues.
But for “Terra” they traveled to 20 or so countries.
“People can see different countries and different visions of relationship between mankind and nature,” he says. “It’s such a journey. We spent two years making this movie. It’s a very long work to us. Everywhere we were looking for perfect shots and moments to show the beauty of our earth.”
Born in 1970 in France, Pitiot is also a voyager and navigator. He took adventurous car and motorcycle journeys across the Sahara Desert, and voyaged the globe on a Chinese sailboat. He has also shot several expedition documentaries such as “Doors of Africa,” a series about his journey through 18 islands of Africa.
“I am honored to have participated in the making of ‘Terra’,” Pitiot said. “In order to capture the beauty of the earth, we have worked with photographers from around the globe and received many rare images and recorded them in this film.”
The film, produced by Swiss Watch brand Omega and GoodPlanet, will air on Netflix on May 1, and on DVDs in September.
Shanghai Daily has interviewed Pitiot to find out more about “Terra” and what it took to produce this astonishing documentary.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for a movie like “Terra?”
A: We have different stages for that. The previous movie we made, “Planet Ocean,” is the first part of the story. This movie is a tale about our fragility while in “Terra” we talk about respect. Today maybe we need some conservation policies, but what we need urgently is that everybody shows his respect for the planet we live on and what is living around us.
Q: The film comes up with a lot of questions. Is the film trying to make people think?
A: It’s not just a movie about nature. It’s a movie about mankind, about us. As human beings, we have incredible intelligence and we have changed the route on the planet. Now we have to use even more intelligence to imagine the future. I really believe that everybody has his own opinion. We have to listen to that and find options.
Q: What was the biggest challenge you had to solve during the production?
A: One challenge for us, maybe the biggest one was to put everything in a single film. The story of life is so huge and the footage we shot can make 10 movies. So we have to make choices and coordinate to select the best shots to show the beauty of earth.
Then for the shooting, we had a list of extraordinary visions we need. We had lots of shooting options to handle. We spent weeks waiting for the coming of light. We shot in very low temperature in the Arctic and we shot in the middle of a desert of Australia. Each time it was an adventure.
Q: There’s some really impressive footage. What was the film’s budget?
A: The film cost around 3 million euro (US$3.25 million) to make. It is a very big project for a documentary film. We need helicopters, big cameras and a lot of equipment. About 430 people were involved in the shooting of the movie, including scientists.
Q: Your work has brought you to so many countries in the world. Which three countries would you pick for a family holiday, or to live in?
A: I think I would go to Venezuela, where people are so fantastic. I would go to South Africa and New Zealand. They have incredible and unique natural sceneries.
Q: What’s your next project?
A: I will have a different documentary project about Russia. It will be a big movie about a country we don’t know. I also dream about a movie about time. It will be a story about time and how difficult it is for us to handle it.
I will also make a biographical movie about director Yann Arthus-Bertrand. I have worked with him in several movies and I discovered that he is a man who dedicates all his life to making the world change. There are very few people like him.
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