Wild Port of Europe is a nature film about the unexpected richness, resilience and dynamics of nature in the largest industrial area in Europe: the Port of Rotterdam. The movie will open the eighth edition of the Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam on October 4 2022 with a public premiere in Cinerama.
Wild Port of Europe is an impressive film by makers Willem Berents and Melanie Kutzke. About the animals that live in Europe’s largest port area, a place where nobody expects nature. It’s an ode to the rich and diverse flora and fauna in the economic center of the Dutch production and transport economy. ”Never before has there been a Dutch nature film with such a strong regional character,” says festival director Raymond Lagerwaard. ”WFFR has therefore chosen this unique nature film as the opening film for the eighth edition of the festival.”
The story of the film is told from the perspective of the animals that live in the busy port areas. The individual characters take you through the touching, dramatic but also humorous moments in their lives. Seals, polecats, hedgehogs, lesser black-backed gulls, partridges, wheatears, Chinese woolly crabs and countless rare orchids. Unexpectedly all these plants and animals pop up in the new space created by man.
Eric Vloeimans soundtracks Wild Port of Europe
Trumpeter Eric Vloeimans composed the music. His work has earned him many awards, including five Edison Awards, the Golden Nutcracker and the Edison Jazz Oeuvre Prize. The score Vloeimans composed for the film merges with the natural and industrial sounds recorded in the area. With a line-up of trumpet, cello and drums, this produces a unique soundtrack.
Wild Port of Europe is a production of Veldkijker, a company by Willem Berents and Melanie Kutzke. In 2016, they had the unique opportunity to shoot nature footage on a closed industrial estate in the Moerdijk harbor for the benefit of the image collection of Stichting Natuurbeelden and the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. The diversity of plants and animals there surprised them enormously. It inspired them to make a large movie about Dutch port nature. The film will be shown in the national cinemas from October 20 onwards.
About Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam
Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam (WFFR) annually screens the best and most impactful films about nature from home and abroad. With the special Flamingo Award, the festival recognizes outstanding performances in eleven categories. The eighth edition of Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam starts October 4.
