Margaret Atwood with a Nature Canada bookmark during the Year of the Flood tour

The countdown is on to Canada’s largest environmental film festival! The worlds of birders, movie celebs and environmentalists will collide as Planet in Focus kicks off this year with the Ron Mann film In the Wake of the Flood, a documentary about author Margaret Atwood’s worldwide Year of the Flood book tour – and Nature Canada makes a small appearance.

Nature Canada joined Atwood for four stops on the Canadian leg of her tour, which were also fundraisers and awareness raising events for Nature Canada. Donations made at performances in Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver went directly to support conservation work at Important Bird Areas throughout Canada.

Mann, director of Comic Book Confidential and Go Further, chronicled Atwood’s journey from Edinburgh to London to New York and across Canada. Former Nature Canada board member, Anne Murray, has a fleeting glimpse at fame as she was filmed taking Atwood birdwatching along Vancouver’s coast!

Nature Canada Executive Director Ian Davidson will brave the paparazzi to attend the premiere, as well as a special Nature Canada fundraising reception at which Atwood and her partner Graeme Gibson will receive Planet in Focus’ Canadian Eco Hero Award.

Atwood and Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Club within BirdLife International, a global alliance of conservation organizations working together for the world’s birds and people. As BirdLife in Canada, Nature Canada and Bird Studies Canada deliver the Important Bird Areas Program, which aims to identify, conserve and monitor a network of sites that provides essential habitat for bird populations.

On the tour, and in the film, Atwood cited bird conservation as a cause dear to her heart, and the members of BirdLife International as effective protectors of birds and their habitat.

The 11th Annual Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival opens on Wednesday, October 13. The Opening Night screening of In the Wake of the Flood will also include a musical performance of passages from the novel. Tickets are on sale now!

Not in the Toronto area? A second Nature Canada fundraising event to promote the DVD release of the film is planned for December 2, so mark your calendars and we will keep you posted with details in the coming weeks.