At sea and in the air two species are saved; now they're film stars

For seven years a team of cinematographers in China and Thailand have beavered away to produce two remarkable, groundbreaking works.

- By CHEN LIANG

The two films, The Legend of Oriental Pied Hornbill and Ark of Bryde’s Whale, had their global premieres on June 30 and July 1, respectively. They were simulcast by Guangxi Radio and TV and a TV channel of the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand. Their broadcast was a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand.

Ding Quan, director of the two documentaries, said Ark of Bryde's Whale delves into the world of the eponymous creature, a rare and endangered species that enjoys top-level protection in China. The documentary tells of the only known nearshore large whales in China, shedding light on the efforts of Chinese and Thai scientists to protect them and promoting the idea of a “global life community”.

“The film presents four firsts to the world,” Ding said. “The first-ever documentary on the Bryde's whales in China, the first records on mysterious courtship behaviour of the Bryde's whales, the first records on their nocturnal feeding habits and the first underwater recordings of the communication between mother and calf.”