Local filmmaker wins award for nature documentary

By Oliver Lazenby

Blaine filmmaker Rick Wood’s new film, “Deconstructing Eden,” won best documentary during the 2017 IndieBoom! film festival, a new international independent film festival.

Wood’s film follows the lives of endangered sea otters, sea lions and several other marine species struggling with ecosystem changes. Wood filmed at Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough, estuaries in Monterey Bay, California, for 28 days total between fall 2015 and spring 2016. He worked on the 23-minute film for almost two years.

The festival ranks films based on views. After screening films, the organizers choose a narrow selection to put online from December 18 to January 5, and the number of views and minutes watched determines the winners. Wood said he felt that the story of sea otters needed to be shared.

“Sea otters are really amazing animals. It’s hard to find a more dynamic creature that is so vital to the health of a whole ecosystem like otters are,” Wood said in an email. “If the southern sea otter were to go extinct it would spell disaster for plants and animals even beyond California.”

“Deconstructing Eden” will have its Whatcom County premiere at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 at the Mount Baker Theatre. Before that, it will show at McMenamins Anderson School Hotel in Bothell at 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 28. Both screenings are free.

Wood funded the film through a grant, company sponsorships and a crowd funding campaign. He has previously directed films about other endangered species and written books about wildlife conservation and ecology. His latest book, Rough Cut: Lessons from Endangered Species was recently published through Homeostasis Press.

Learn more about the film at deconstructingeden.weebly.com.