One Planet News: New rewilding nature film showcases dairy farm transformation
Heal the Land nature documentary to be released soon
By Annette J Beveridge
A new nature documentary about the transformation of a rewilding site is to be released soon.
The charity Heal Rewilding has been working on the documentary revealing the transformation from an intensive dairy farm to a thriving rewilding site. This began in January 2023 and Heal the Land was filmed entirely at the Heal Somerset site during 2024.
It features numerous species now seen there, many of which are known to be breeding. Most remarkable is the extensive footage of the wild-living beavers which first appeared early in the year.
The film includes insights from rewilding experts and members of the Heal team, with contributors including Jan Stannard, co-founder and acting CEO of Heal Rewilding, Professor Alastair Driver, Director of Rewilding Britain, and rewilding expert Derek Gow.
Heal the Land was created by two dedicated Heal volunteers, Tom Francome and Hayley Smith, both accomplished filmmakers and founders of Planet House Productions and Pictus Productions, respectively. Together, they donated over 100 days of their time to produce this cinematic-quality documentary.
The inaugural screening of the film is taking place on Friday, March 14 at the Merlin Theatre in Frome, Somerset. Additional screenings will take place in Bath, London and online. For screening details, including links to the film’s trailer and to purchase tickets, visit the Heal Somerset website here.
Read more: Natural ecosystem engineers could be released near you soon
Co-founder Jan Stannard, said: “Given that England is one the most nature-depleted countries on Earth, we can find so much hope in our experience. Wildlife comes back quickly if it’s given the habitat, space and time to recover.
“The remarkable contribution of time and skills by our wonderful volunteers Tom and Hayley is beyond measure, and they were helped by three young videographers, a local ecologist and a local wildlife cameraman who contributed to the wildlife footage. Professional and volunteer wildlife surveyors also generously took part. We are hugely grateful to them all. Their collective commitment to storytelling and rewilding has resulted in a film that we hope will inspire many more people to support the return of wildlife to our landscapes.”
Director Tom Francome, said: “We were excited by the changes we were seeing at Heal Somerset in only the second year of its rewilding journey and wanted to capture this transformation as it began. Every day on site felt like a new discovery and we really hope this film helps to inspire its audience to see how positive rewilding can be for nature recovery.”
Many people helped bring the film to fruition: post-production services by Films@59, music by Cody Martin, animation by Tom Napper, and additional camerawork by Pete Matthews, Alex Sams, Luke Hurricks and Ben Oakes.
