Not-to-be-missed: “The Burning Season” at The Tribeca Film Festival (4/25-4/30)

There’s a terrific award-winning film playing at the Tribeca Film festival.  It’s an awesome and inspiring testament to the fact that you can make money and do good things, too … .
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“As inspiring as ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was frightening” — Variety

This is the story of a young man not afraid to single-handedly confront the biggest challenge of our time. His determination to succeed and his award-winning achievement will uplift and entertain audiences and inspire hope in our future.”

.“… There are less than 45,000 Borneo orangutans and 7,500 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild, and the animals are found only on these two islands. Illegal logging and palm oil plantations are destroying the primates’ forest habitat, and the breeding populations are dwindling. Can a solution be found before it’s too late for the orangutans? …”

After garnering 3 prestigious awards, “The Burning Season,” a film directed by Cathy Henkel (director of “The Man Who Stole My Mother’s Face”) is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival this year in the “World Documentary Feature Competition.”

Director Henkel follows three characters, Dorjee Sun (investor with a carbon-trading plan he believes will save the forests), an Indonesian farmer (who has to choose between feeding his family and harming the environment), and a Danish expat who cares for orangutans displaced by the burning. (Our friends at Orangutan Outreach actually know her well.)

Henkel conceived the film after seeing images of smoke plumes that stretched across South East Asia, says indieWIRE in its “Tribeca ‘09 Interview: “The Burning Season” Director Cathy Henkel.” With pictures of orangutans being rescued from the fires and the discovery that they were on the verge of extinction, “The Burning Season” was born.

Asked about her biggest challenges, Henkel said, ” … I want the film to remind people how much can be achieved with courage, vision and perseverance.”

Check out the trailer for the film here, and then see it at the public screenings listed below:

Shows at AMC Village VII
(66 3rd Ave)
Sat, Apr 25, 6:15 pm
Sun, Apr 26, 4:15 pm
Tue, Apr 28, 10:15 pm
Thu, Apr 30, 12:30 pm

Shows at SVA Theater 1
(333 W 23rd St btween 8th & 9th Ave.)
Mon, Apr 27, 7:00 pm
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TribecaFilm.com, 2009 Festival Guide, “The Burning Season”

indieWIRE.com, “Tribeca ‘09 Interview: ‘The Burning Season’ Director Cathy Henkel,” April 13, 2009