What we’re up to this week….
The Singing Planet film now available on Vimeo
The Charismatic mega berry FILM
The World’s Best Berries
My dear friend and creative collaborator Richard Nelson and I headed out to film Charismatic Mega Berry during the summer of 2019, equipped with trusty yellow nut-butter pail, tripod, cameras, sound equipment and bear spray. Right after taking these pics, there was a very loud snapping of branches and rustling leaves in the bushes just to our left. We talked loudly and pretty soon the sound stopped and the (presumably) large brown animal let us pass, most likely going right back to munching on the delicious salmonberries we were all out there to enjoy. Thanks to a generous donation by The Sitka Conservation Society Living Wilderness Fund, I am editing the film now. Stay tuned!
Liz: enthusiastic berry sampler/ videographer
Richard: well-equipped berry picker/ narrator
Liz McKenzie
Liz McKenzie is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and editor. Her films and articles focus on the nature, science and traditional ecological knowledge of Alaska and other parts of the world. She is passionate about telling unique stories about the natural world and about the people who work to understand, to conserve and to use nature's bounty responsibly. Her projects have taken her from the Chukchi Sea in the arctic to Tasmania in the Southern Hemisphere. From the decks of fishing boats in the Gulf of Alaska, to wilderness salmon streams and close encounters with brown bears, to eastern Australia and intimate portraits of kangaroos. Liz's films have been seen widely at film festivals in the United States, as well as in Europe, Asia, and Australia. She also serves as editor for other writers, helping them to refine and sculpt their work for publication.
Filming for The Singing Planet in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska.
Home base for Liz is Sitka, Alaska, a little gem in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, the largest intact temperate rain forest in the world. After receiving her Forestry and Wildlife Management degree, her first career was in forestry, including 5 years as a park ranger in the Grand Tetons and Rocky Mountain National Parks. Career number 2, with Master of Fine Arts degree in hand, included more than 20 years teaching creative writing, first in Miami and then as Associate Professor at the University of Alaska Southeast. But her first love has always been nature--writing about it, photographing it, tromping around in it, and filming it.