08.10.2019. ‘Paradise Preserved: Congo – Protecting the Gorilla Forests’, the film which Thomas Weidenbach produced for ARTE, received Germany’s Nature Film Prize on Saturday 5 October 2019. Commissioned by tv-channel ARTE, known to air cultural programmes, the film was broadcast at the end of June.
The jury’s motivation was based on the positive vision of how to secure nature in the tropical forest while at the same time providing the local people with a long-term, economic perspective.
For several weeks in a row, Weidenbach and his crew accompanied INTERHOLCO’s forest and industry teams in the Republic of Congo (IFO), filming the forest which shelters several thousand gorillas, thanks to the work of INTERHOLCO and conservation organisations. The prize was handed over by Minister of Culture Bettina Martin (SPD).
The Nature Film Prize is Germany's highest award in nature film and is hosted during The Darßer Naturfilmfestival. The German Nature Film Foundation has been awarding the Nature Film Prize since 2008.
The aim is to make nature films’ more accessible - not only to broadcasters and general audiences, but also to nature conservationists and policy-makers. The prize gives tangible recognition to nature filmmakers, for bringing endangered animal species and natural spaces into our living rooms.
Link to the news published on the Süddeutsche Zeitung: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/film-wieck-a-darss-naturfilmpreis-2019-verliehen-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-191005-99-173297
About INTERHOLCO
Since 1962, INTERHOLCO is serving an international clientele with high-quality hardwood – Made in Africa.
With annual sales of about EUR 70 Mio., the Swiss-based INTERHOLCO is one of the leading international suppliers of sustainable hardwood, from sourcing and processing to high quality hardwood products: logs, lumber, laminated scantlings and more. In addition to three processing sawmills, large kiln facilities, a lamination and planing mill, INTERHOLCO manages an FSC-certified 1.1 million ha forest concession in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), employing a diverse dedicated global workforce of about 1’000 people. INTERHOLCO serves over 50 countries world-wide, from importers to industrial end-users.
INTERHOLCO is committed to making sustainably harvested timber from Africa the norm, as a renewable material that improves people’s livelihoods in the region and protects the forest and its precious wildlife. INTERHOLCO supports the Fair&Precious initiative in its goal to increase market recognition of sustainable hardwood from Africa based on technical, environmental and sustainability considerations.
Communications contact INTERHOLCO
Tullia Baldassarri Höger von Högersthal
INTERHOLCO AG, Schutzengelstr. 36, 6340 Baar, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 (0)41 767 03 82