This year was a big one for Victoria-based writer, director and producer Niobe Thompson, and his production company, Handful of Films.
Thompson won his first Emmy Award for his latest film Hunt for the Oldest DNA, which followed the decades-long effort of evolutionary biologist Eske Willerslev to recover the world’s oldest DNA.
The film tells the story of Willerslev’s single-minded pursuit of an improbable scientific vision that would tease and torment him for years before ending with a stunning triumph.
“This film is really of this unlikely, ugly duckling, who was a failure at school, but who eventually becomes a star of science,” Thompson told Victoria Buzz.
“It’s really [Eske’s] life story, and a story of persevering through a 16-year research project to achieve something that no one thinks is possible.”
Thompson says he has been wanting to make this film since he first met Willerslev in 2009, but was only able to start working on the project six years ago.
However, with this type of scientific documentary, it is not uncommon for these projects to have been in the works for many years.
“You go to the Emmys and you realize every one of these projects has a long history behind it—you just don’t cook up these crazy stories overnight,” explained Thompson.
Hunt for the Oldest DNA ended up winning its Emmy over some powerhouse films: What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates and Apollo 13: Survival, which were produced by Netflix; as well as Anand Varma: Hidden Wonders, produced by National Geographic.
“It was surreal—I’ve been to the Emmys twice before and you’re typically up against the big dogs: Nat Geo, Netflix, Prime, BBC, and you never expect a little project from Canada to be able to take projects like that on,” said Thompson.
“The blood drained right from my head when we heard [the winner announced as] Hunt for the Oldest DNA and it was a long walk down to the stage from the nosebleeds,” he laughed.
He added that for science documentaries, this is the most prestigious award you can win.
“It’s career defining for me and everyone on the team.”
The film was not initially picked up by any Canadian distributors, but found its way to air through PBS NOVA in the United States and via popular European broadcasters.
However, since its release and acclaim, Thompson says he has made a deal with the Knowledge Network, BC’s public broadcaster, which will be airing and streaming Hunt for the Oldest DNA, come November 4th.
He added that he is grateful for this as well as for PBS picking it up in the first place and laments that due to public broadcasting cutbacks in the United States, PBS may be facing significant cuts.
“It’s a very difficult time in the industry—PBS could be gone a year from now, budgets are being cut back for public broadcasting everywhere, science communication is harder and harder to do.”
Given this, Thompson encourages people to continue to seek out knowledge through public broadcasters, and support them when possible.
Following this big win, Handful of Films has a couple of cool projects that have been greenlit, one of which will involve two Victoria-based cinematographers spending six months on a remote island to film a unique group of chimpanzees.
“Its about the first wildlife reintroduction project—an island in the middle of Lake Victoria in Africa where German naturalists brought former zoo animals to the island in the 60s and abandoned them,” explained Thompson.
“We thought they had all been poached or had died in some other way, but recently scientists discovered that the chimpanzees had created a whole community and are still there 50-years later.”
He added that this is interesting, as it can help inform us on whether culture in these animals is learned or inherent.
Check out more on Hunt for the Oldest DNA and Handful of Films’ other projects. Find information on how and where to find these films through their website.
