LYNX Festival, Romania’s only event dedicated exclusively to nature photography and documentary movies, returns to Brasov between June 4 – 9 with a broad selection of screenings, presentations, photo exhibitions, children’s workshops and meetings with international guests, local artists and representatives of environmental NGOs.
A special guest of the 3rd edition of the festival initiated by the Wild Romania Association and the Forona Association is multiple award-winning British cameraman Gavin Thurston who specializes in wildlife and who has worked with Sir David Attenborough for 20 documentaries, including Blue Planet II, Planet Earth II, Our Planet and Human Planet.
Gavin is the winner of five Emmys and two BAFTAs, and has traveled the world for more than 30 years, to the most hidden and inaccessible corners of the planet – including the North and South Poles. He is behind hundreds of stunning images of some of the most valuable and rare animal species, and also penned the book „Journeys into the Wild”, where he recounts his experience.
Described as „a collection of enlightening glimpses behind the lens” (Times Literary Supplement) or „a captivating story of a fascinating career”, „Journeys into the Wild” has a dedicated slot at the LYNX Festival for the presentation by the author himself.
It is a great honor to be invited to a festival that celebrates wildlife, the art of storytelling and the power of nature to inspire and connect us, so I am looking forward to June to attend the LYNX Festival. As someone who has spent his entire life filming wildlife from around the world, I am delighted to be in a place where wilderness still thrives, and to meet other people who share a deep respect for it. I am looking forward to bringing stories from the field, hearing from nature lovers, fellow filmmakers and environmental NGO professionals, and taking part in what I know will be a passionate and insightful celebration of the natural world, said Thurston.
The program of the 3rd edition of LYNX Festival is a journey around the world, giving viewers the chance to explore the wildlife of Europe, Africa and Asia through documentary films that will be screened for the first time in Romania, including Lions of the Skeleton Coast, a truly amazing story about three orphaned lion cubs who must survive on the deadly Skeleton Coast of Namibia. The documentary directed by Will and Lianne Steenkamp (winners of two Emmy awards) has already collected 13 international awards last year at prestigious festivals (Jackson Wild FF, Wildscreen FF, Nature Namur FF, Cannes Corporate & Media Awards) and earned many other nominations.
From Africa, the audiences will be taken to Asia, more precisely to India, as they are invited to watch an authentic and creative documentary that revives the well-known stories of Rudyard Kipling’s characters – Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa and Shere Khan, capturing the real behavior of these animals in the lush landscape of the Indian jungle. The images and stories brought to the screen in The Real Jungle Book (d. Jeremy Hogarth) were filmed for 4 years by a team made up exclusively of local cameramen.
From Europe, filmmaker Asgeir Helgestad pays a magnificent and intimate tribute to the endangered nature of Norway, in A Call From the Wild. From the life of bees on his farm to mountaintop wild reindeer and ocean shore puffins, he presents the beauty of endangered nature and traces the human actions responsible for its decline.
Preceding the LYNX Festival in Brasov will be a special event in Bucharest taking place on May 21 at the „I. L. Caragiale” National University of Theater and Cinematography – specifically a masterclass delivered by the festival’s artistic director Dan Dinu for the students of the Image Department, on the making of a nature documentary film.
The moment will be followed by the screening of the documentary Cactus Hotel (dir. Yann Sochaczewski), winner of the 2024 LYNX Festival Trophy, the presentation of this year’s full program, the release of the trailer of the festival’s current edition, as well as free discussions with the festival organizers.
The Wild Romania Association was founded in 2022 and aims to promote nature conservation and biodiversity through photography and documentary film, with the goal of educating and raising public awareness about nature protection. The association’s best-known project is the documentary „Wild Romania”, awarded 8 times at national and international festivals, distributed in over 30 countries and watched by 400,000 people in cinema theaters or in special screenings.
FORONA (Organization of Nature Photographers from Romania) was founded in 2015 with the aim of developing and promoting nature photography and supporting the conservation of natural areas by involving members in projects aimed at photographic art and environmental protection. The association includes some of the most well-known and appreciated local photographers, and its over 130 members are involved in various nature conservation projects. The association has so far held 6 national outdoor traveling exhibitions.
