LAST OF THE RIGHT WHALES – To Open In Canadian Theatres In February
North Atlantic right whales are dying faster than they can reproduce. With just over 330 remaining, these great whales rarely die of natural causes. Instead they are run over by ships or suffer lethal injuries from fishing gear. If we don’t stop killing them, in 20 years they could be extinct.
Due to the theatre closures in Canada, Last of the Right Whales will open in Canadian theatres in late winter (end of February – date TBC). Cities and theatres to come soon. Last of the Right Whales was acquired by Off the Fence, the team behind the Oscar-winning documentary feature My Octopus Teacher.
This powerful documentary is directed by award-winning filmmaker, Nadine Pequeneza, and features a remarkable group of marine biologists, whale rescuers, crab fishers and wildlife photographers, including Charles ‘Stormy’ Mayo, Moira Brown, Kim Davies, Martin Noel, Nick Hawkins, Barbara Zoodsma. The film has already been awarded the “Best Canadian Feature” at the 2021’s Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival.
Over the course of two years the film documents the life of NARW #3560 and her calf, born in December 2020. Their story demonstrates not only the strong mother-calf bond between right whales, but also the emotional connection humans can have to these animals. The pair delighted onlookers as they ventured into the Gulf of Mexico, a place where right whales seldom go. Eventually they resumed the traditional migratory path north to feed, but 3560’s calf was struck and killed off the New Jersey shore by a recreational boater. Six months after losing her calf, 3560 was sighted in Cape Cod Bay entangled, and became the focus of multiple rescue attempts. In the course of filming researchers named 3560 Snow Cone, after the callosity pattern on her head. When we last filmed Snow Cone she was still entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Her case remains open for rescue teams.
DIrector Nadine Pequeneza told us, “It was the multiple deaths in 2017, what scientists called an unusual mortality event, that grabbed my attention. When I started researching this film, I had never heard of a North Atlantic right whale let alone so many dying, seemingly inexplicably, all at once. When I learned it was us that was unintentionally killing them and that we could change our behaviour to prevent their death, I had to tell this story.”
Featuring breathtaking cinematography of this rarely seen, 60-ton great whale, Last of the Right Whales will resonate
with audiences long after the final frame fades to black. The filmmakers have partnered with key wildlife conservation groups to help reach the film’s core audience but the story of the last right whales will attract an audience far beyond the conservation crowd, people only
need to see what is happening to them and our ocean.
WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW
These gentle giants no longer die of natural causes. Instead, they are run over by ships or suffer lethal injuries from fishing gear. Over the past decade they’ve been dying at a rate of 24 per year. This staggering death toll is fueling a movement to save the first great whale to face extinction. Last of the Right Whales is the story of a disparate group of people – a wildlife photographer, a marine biologist, a whale rescuer, and a crab fisher – united in their cause to save the North Atlantic right whale. By joining forces these formidable allies are determined to stop the world’s first great whale extinction. The film combines the 4K cinematography of a blue-chip nature film with the character-driven, vérité storytelling of a high-stakes drama. With unprecedented access to film the migration of the North Atlantic right whale from their calving ground off the coast of Florida to their new feeding area in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, this feature documentary brings a message of hope about the most at-risk, great whale on the planet.
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