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Black and White Big Cats

52'

SYNOPSIS

This documentary immerses us alongside French photographer Laurent Baheux, in the heart of the African bush, chasing three fascinating felines. The lion, king of the savannah, powerful, majestic and vulnerable at the same time. The graceful cheetah, so quick but so fragile. The leopard, a silent and ghostly predator. All around, a delicate and threatened nature. Laurent is ready to seize what it has to offer him, he expects nothing in particular, always humble in his relationship with animals. He captures the beauty of the moment, the play of lights, the harmony of the scenes.

Role

Cinematographer, Director, Editor

Production

Bonne Pioche Télévision, Canal Azul & Ushuaïa TV

Year

2021

Team

Laurent Baheux - Main character
Morris Nthiwa Mwania - Secondary character

Location

Kenya

Music

Franck Zaragoza - Ocoeur

Mixing Studio

Brazil

Broadcasters

Ushuaïa TV

Sponsors

Sony France - Sony Europe

Official Film Festival selections

‣ 1st edition of Terre Sauvage Festival, France
‣ 24° Gran Paradiso Film Festival, Italy
‣ 5th What A Trip! de Montpellier, France
‣ 27th International Nature Namur Festival, Belgium
‣ 20th Le Grand Bivouac d'Albertville, France
‣ 37th Festival International du Film Ornithologique de Ménigoute, France
‣ 18th Festival International du Film et du Livre d’Aventure de La Rochelle, France
‣ 24th Festival International de la Photo Animalière et de Nature, France
‣ 35th Festival International du Film Nature & Environnement, France
‣ 8th Festival Quais du Départ, France
‣ 7th Les Rendez-Vous de l’Aventure of Lons-le-Saunier, France
‣ VIII International Nature and Environmental Protection Festival of Gödöllő, Hungary
‣ Wildlife Conservation Film Festival 2022, USA
‣ Green Screen Naturfilmfestival 2022, Germany
‣ 20th Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Estonia
‣ 11th Wildlife Vaasa Festival, Finland
‣ XXXVII Pärnu International Documentary Film Festival, Estonia
‣ Regards de Voyages 2022, Switzerland
‣ 36th Sondrio Festival, Italy
‣ 5th Objectif Aventure - Festival International du Film d'Aventure de Paris, France

Awards

‣ Hérisson d’Or in Nature Category at 35th Festival International du Film Nature & Environnement, France
‣ Grand Prix François Bel at 7th Les Rendez-Vous de l’Aventure of Lons-le-Saunier, France
‣ Nominated for the 'Heinz Sielmann Film Award' at Green Screen Naturfilmfestival 2022, Germany

Press

France Bleu
La Nouvelle République
Écran Total
GEO
Le Figaro Magazine
Le Monde
Savoir Animal
Mon Quotidien
Phototrend
Télé câble sat
Le Télégramme
Le 7
Lense
Nouvelle Veg'
Luxe Calme Volupté
Proximus

Black and White Big Cats
Black and White Big Cats
Black and White Big Cats
Black and White Big Cats
Black and White Big Cats

For Laurent Baheux, "Black and white is a game between light and shadow, that's what fascinates me." His prize at the International Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in the Creative Vision of Nature category was the starting point of his artistic career around animals and wildlife. His photographs in Black White have since been exhibited all over the world in galleries and in numerous festivals. A film, to immerse ourselves at his side, in the heart of the African bush, on the trail of 3 fascinating felines. A photographic quest, “a grail” its grail. The lion, king of the savannah, powerful, majestic and vulnerable at the same time. The graceful cheetah, so quick but so vulnerable. The leopard, a silent and ghostly predator An intimate immersion at his side to understand his artistic approach and his sensitivity All around, a fragile and threatened nature. Laurent is ready to seize what she has to offer him, he expects nothing in particular, always humble in his relationship with the animal He captures the beauty of the moment, the play of lights, the harmony of the scenes . Laurent shares his vision, his respectful and poetic approach to this savannah and its animals capable, according to him, of feeling. He seeks emotion and conveys it to us through his pictures. All reveal a simple and intense beauty. He came to Africa to seek a certain appeasement. By his side, through his words, his gaze and his pictures, we also found him. A black and white film to shake up codes and arouse emotion The animal sequences of FÉLINS, NOIR SUR BLANC are shot with finesse and sensitivity by the director, Mathieu Le Lay. Mathieu shakes up the codes of animal documentaries with a monochrome aesthetic approach that takes precedence over the naturalist vision. A striking encounter ... a revealing light ... a graphic composition ... each scene magnifies a subject, asks a question, tells a story, arouses an emotion. The photographs taken by Laurent accompany the images shot by Mathieu, thus creating an original universe punctuated by intimacy, tenderness and poetry. FÉLINS, NOIR SUR BLANC transforms the animal documentary into a televised fable which opens as a preamble with a quote dear to the photographer: "No cage, no enclosure, Neither circus nor zoo, Free, in the wild Captivity is physical and mental torture, For animals, as for men. "