Documentary Film

Duration: 25 mins 40 sec

UHD format. Colour

Aspect Ratio: 2:35

Audio: Dolby digital 5.1 / Stereo

Year of production: 2022

 

In 1968 Evolutionary Biologist Michael C. Singer started fieldwork in Sierra Nevada, California, under the supervision of Paul R. Erlich. Climate Change Scientist Camille Parmesan joined Singer in 1982. Since then, they have returned yearly to the same sites investigating the ecology and evolution of Edith Checkerspot butterfly.

Their lifelong work on butterflies is reflected in IPCC reports (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) documenting the dramatic impact climate change already has had on plants and animals around the world. Camille Parmesan has contributed to the IPCC reports for more than 25 years. IPCC was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 ‘for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.’[1]

In 2017, Parmesan was awarded President Macron’s ‘Make Our Planet Great Again’ award, and the film 47˚C was created as part of the award communicating Climate Change Science.

The film is set in Sierra Nevada, California, where Parmesan and Singer have conducted field work on the ecology and evolution on the butterfly species Edith’s Checkerspot since 1968.  It is narrated through their investigations and discoveries during field work and is a glimpse into their life-time dedication to this study.  The film is centred around one day, where the scientists explore the mountainous terrain of Sierra Nevada in their search for caterpillars, butterflies and host plants. During their search for these vulnerable insects, the film offers an insight into a microcosm universe seen in relation to global climate change patterns.

Filmed in Sierra Nevada, California, USA. July 2019

 

Featuring 

Camille Parmesan

Michael C. Singer

Directed, Edited, and Produced by

Heidi C Morstang

Cinematography

Patrik Säfström [fnf]

 Sound Design & Mix

Paul Donovan

Grade

Craig Whyte

 

[1] The Nobel Peace Prize for 2007

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2007/press-release/