14 DAY TRIAL // The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS, for short) has recently announced that a documentary film dubbed “Medicine of the Wolf” is the winner of this year's Animal Content in Entertainment Grant.
This award was first offered back in 2006, and boils down to a $20,000 (€14,623) prize that is given to filmmakers whose documentaries tackle animal protection and conservation issues in a manner that the general public is bound to find quite appealing.
“Launched in 2006, the ACE (Animal Content in Entertainment) Grant is awarded to filmmakers to fund the creation of feature-length documentaries that highlight animal advocacy,” the organization writes on its website.
“Each year, the $20,000 prize is awarded to the filmmaker who best succeeds in merging animal issues with a compelling narrative,” it further details.
On its website, the HSUS explains that the documentary film that snatched this year's Animal Content in Entertainment Grant is the brainchild of filmmaker Julia Huffman.
“Medicine of the Wolf” documents the work of Jim Brandenburg, an environmentalist and a National Geographic photographer who has spent some 44 years studying wolves in their natural habitats.
The film explores how gray wolves in the United States have influenced the country's history over the years. Besides, it makes a case of how pulling this species off the federal Endangered Species act in some regions is very likely to cause local populations to plummet.
“A film like this could really not have come along at a more vital time for wolf conservation. Anti-wolf sentiments nearly led to the extermination of America’s wolves, and just when populations are starting to bounce back, wolves are being hunted and trapped at an alarming rate in several states as we speak placing this iconic species in jeopardy once again,” says Colin McCormack with the HSUS.
Furthermore, “We hope that ‘Medicine of the Wolf’ brings greater public attention to this issue.”
The runners-up of the 2013 Animal Content in Entertainment Grant are Mariah Wilson's “Kaziranga,” i.e. a film detailing rhino poaching in India's Kaziranga National Park, and Cozette Russell's “Sea Horse,” which focuses on wild horses in Corolla, North Carolina. Each of these runners-up have received a $2,500 (nearly €1,830) prize.