Every year, Planet in Focus (PIF) recognizes a Canadian individual who has “made a difference in their communities and the world through their passion and body of work. Previous PIF Canadian Eco Hero Award recipients include David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood and Edward Burtynsky; just to name a few. This year, Planet in Focus will present this award to filmmaker Kevin McMahon.
I had the pleasure to touch base with McMahon and ask about his work, the Canadian Eco Hero Award and future projects. This is what he had to say.
Hye: Coming from a journalism background what is your approach to documentary filmmaking?
Kevin McMahon: I suppose my basic approach is much like it was in print journalism – to be ridiculously thorough in research and try to present the material with some panache. Of course, making films has freedoms and constraints which are very different from working on a daily newspaper – which is where I started. We are free in film to work in more dimensions and to use all sorts of stylistic innovations. But we are constrained by the physicality of the medium and the resources required to capture reality through film (or, more likely, video). My goal, in every medium — from newsprint to film to the web — has always been to find ways of encouraging the audience to see the world around us with more color and depth than daily life (and mainstream media) normally allows.
Hye: You have made some amazing documentaries showcasing nature and the environment. Could you please talk a bit about what draws you to these?
KM: Two things. Firstly, I am a reporter at heart and so I’m naturaly keen to cover whatever is the biggest, hottest, and the most under-reported story. And for the whole of my 30-plus year career, that story has been the cascading disasters befalling the environment upon which all life depends. The great thing is that many of my colleagues are focused on other important issues so that’s left me and a small number of others free play in the field. Secondly, environmental stories tend to take one to the margins – the Arctic, the north Atlantic, Haida Gwaii – and those are places I like to be, filled with fascinating people who are good to know. Take those two reasons together and I guess the short answer is: it’s the adventure of it all!
Hye: I had the chance of seeing Standing Wave, filmed in the Northwest Territories (NWT), as part of the National Parks Project. It is beautifully shot and you did such a great job in showcasing the park but mainly the river that runs through it. Did you have a choice of location for this film; as well, did you have an idea of where you wanted to film and which artists to include?
KM: My colleagues and I at Primitive Entertainment were already collaborating with our colleagues from FilmCAN to produce the National Parks Project when they asked me to also direct one of the films. I chose to go to the Nahanni River because it’s a legendary place that I’ve wanted to travel since I saw pictures of Pierre Trudeau canoeing it, when I was a kid. It had already been decided that Shad and Olga and Jace from The Besnard Lakes would go on the trip to the NWT but none of us had any idea what sort of music they would make – just as I had no plan for the film. All the creative works evolved from the the trip. In just the same way that the carver finds the statue waiting in the stone, we found the art in the river and the experience of travelling it.
Hye: This year, you are the recipient of Planet in Focus’ Canadian Eco Hero Award for your “work in raising environmental awareness and exploring environmental issues and stories through film.” What does this award mean to you personally and in terms of your body of work thus far?
KM: I’m honored to be chosen for this award by Planet In Focus – and also humbled and surprised. I don’t consider myself to be an environmental champion like David Suzuki, a past recipient of this award. As I’ve said, I’m just a reporter interested in a great story . Then again, the number of environmental reporters has been steadily dropping throughout my whole career. So I guess it’s like that old line: “in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”.
Hye: Lastly, you could fill us in on what you’re working on next? Where do you see yourself in terms of future projects?
KM: I have a bunch of projects I’m working on right now. At the moment at Primitive Entertainment we are producing a TV series – Canadian Made – which is about stuff invented in Canada. I’m also doing an exciting interactive web documentary called Planet Zero, about the threats currently posed by nuclear weapons – it’s a collaboration with Jam3 and the NFB, with whom I worked on the very successful Waterlife website. I am also participating in a project with the Cape Farewell Foundation – which sends expeditions to the Arctic to produce cultural works about global warming. And I’m working on a couple of other global warming projects with broadcasters from Japan and Germany. Also, I’m writing a film called Borealis, about the forest that covers most of the subarctic north of the planet, which we hope will be a 3D feature documentary. And I’m working on a couple of other TV series and helping some younger filmmakers with their projects. So that’s my present and future – cause there is enough going on to keep me busy for at least a few years!
McMahon sure knows how to keep busy while at the same time bringing forth some pressing environmental stories via film, the internet or video. I take this opportunity to congratulate him on being this year’s PIF Canadian Eco Hero Award recipient. The official ceremony will take place at PIF Environmental Film Festival’s Opening Night on Wednesday, Oct 12th at 7pm. For further details, go to the festival’s website.
