THE ISLANDS AND THE WHALES - Director Mike Day

Monica speaks to Director Mike Day about his journey and about the passion behind whales and the clash the exists between man and the sea.

Day captures the awesome visual power of the land as sweeping cinematography shows the Faroe Islands shrouded in mist and suspended in time. The film gains impressive access to the community, which proves particularly advantageous for obtaining footage of the whale hunt. The immersive aural tracks let the wind blow and the birds squawk as the film depicts a land worth preserving. The soundtrack affords a sense of being present on the Faroe Islands and right in the thick of the fight. – Point of View Magazine

THE ISLANDS AND THE WHALES has its national broadcast premiere on the PBS documentary series POV (Point of View) on Monday, October 9, 2017 (check local listings). POV is American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, now in its 30th season.

About the filmmaker:
Mike Day is a Scottish director and cinematographer. His debut film THE GUGA HUNTERS OF NESS screened on the BBC in 2011 and at festivals internationally. Formerly a lawyer, Mikefounded Intrepid Cinema in 2009 before setting sail into the North Atlantic to document the last Scottish ten seabird hunters on their traditional annual gannet hunt in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. This was the first time since 1959 that the hunters had allowed this tradition to be filmed. After two weeks at sea the crew returned home with a rare glimpse into the world of the Sula Sgeir hunters.

The Islands and the Whales was funded by Sundance Institute, Creative Scotland, The Filmmaker Fund, San Francisco Film Society, Wellcome Trust, Creative Europe, Influence Film Foundation, DR, and the Factum Foundation and the sound post production was at Skywalker Sound.

Mike was listed as one of 10 filmmakers to watch in 2012 by Independent Filmmaker Magazine. He was also one of the EDNs ’12 for the Future’, and attended the 2014 Sundance Fellows program and lab.

Credits:
Director/Producer:                                          Mike Day
Co-Producer:                                                 Stefan Frost, Henrik Underbjerg
Executive Producers:                                    John Atkinson, Niall Christie, Matt Day,
                                        David Eckles, Leslie Finlay, Minette Nelson, Phillip Noran
Editors:                                                          Mike Day, Nicole Hálová, Mary Lampson

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Produced by American Documentary, Inc., POV is public television’s premier showcase for nonfiction films. Since 1988, POV has been the home for the world’s boldest contemporary filmmakers, celebrating intriguing personal stories that spark conversation and inspire action. Always an innovator, POV discovers fresh new voices and creates interactive experiences that shine a light on social issues and elevate the art of storytelling. With our documentary broadcasts, original online programming and dynamic community engagement campaigns, we are committed to supporting films that capture the imagination and present diverse perspectives.

POV films have won 36 Emmy® Awards, 19 George Foster Peabody Awards, 12 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards®, the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award and the Prix Italia. The POV series has been honored with a Special News & Documentary Emmy Award for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, three IDA Awards for Best Curated Series and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers Award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity. Learn more at www.pbs.org/pov/.

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POV’s Community Engagement and Education team works with educators, community organizations and PBS stations to present more than 650 free screenings every year. In addition, we distribute free discussion guides and standards-aligned lesson plans for each of our films. With our community partners, we inspire dialogue around the most important social issues of our time.

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Since 1994, POV Digital has driven new storytelling initiatives and interactive production for POV. The department created PBS’s first program website and its first web-based documentary (POV’s Borders) and has won major awards, including a Webby Award (and six nominations) and an Online News Association Award. POV Digital continues to explore the future of independent nonfiction media through its digital productions and the POV Hackathon lab, where media makers and technologists collaborate to reinvent storytelling forms. @povdocs on Twitter.

American Documentary, Inc. (www.amdoc.org)
American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Wyncote Foundation. Additional funding comes from Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Bertha Foundation, The Fledgling Fund, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Open Society Foundations, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.

In THE ISLANDS AND THE WHALES (DOC NYC Grand Jury Prize, Hot Docs Emerging International Filmmaker Award), Scottish filmmaker Mike Day lets his camera swoop down on the majestic beauty of the emerald green, rocky North Atlantic Faroe Islands, where its people have survived on pilot whales and seabirds for centuries. The whales are plentiful, far from extinct, but they are sadly poisoned by pollutants. As a result local children are showing high levels of mercury, while international anti-whaling activists are imploring – even threatening – the locals to find alternatives.

While hunting whales and seabirds kept them alive for generations, local professor Dr. Pal Weihe makes a grim discovery about the effects of marine pollution. He takes on the onerous task of asking his fellow Islanders to change not just a tradition, but a way of life. The same global environmental forces that have brought the devastating pollutants have also brought the fiercest interventionists. What happens when fishermen spears come up against an internationally funded activist vessel becomes a precursor for an even more troubling confrontation.

Day came upon the Faroe Islands while shooting his previous film THE GUGA HUNTERS OF NESS (2011), a BBC documentary about a Scottish island community embarking on their epic annual seabird hunt in the treacherous North Atlantic. Like the Faroese, the hunting practices of the Ness community are deeply rooted in their society and culture.
                                                                                                
With a keen eye for the natural beauty on these remote islands and a deep respect for their traditions, Day zooms in on climate change and pollution, which the islanders in both films find themselves battling in ways that people on the mainland are not yet forced to.