Danish director Robin Petré (“Only on Earth,” “From the Wild Sea”) and Oscar-nominated producer Monica Hellström (“Flee,” “A House Made of Splinters”) have unveiled “Wolf Moon,” the third in a loose trilogy exploring the relation between humans and animals.
Presented at CPH:FORUM, the industry event of Copenhagen’s international documentary film festival (CPH:DOX), the doc explores how human activity is reshaping animal behavior causing wildlife to be more active at night to avoid humans.
Pitched to key industry figures in Copenhagen’s historic Grand Teatret, “Wolf Moon” was described by Petré as “a sensorial, immersive, visceral journey that goes deeper and deeper into the night, into the dark – closer and closer to the animals.”
“We’re more alone than ever,” the Danish director tells Variety, citing WWF figures, which reveal a staggering 69% global decline in wildlife since 1970. “Yet the entire history of humankind is so inextricably connected to animals. There’s an inherent, deep need in humans to be surrounded by animals and nature. And this runs through the film: this longing to reconnect with nature that we’re increasingly getting distanced from,” she says.
Petré emphasizes that the film lets animals become characters in their own story, placing the viewer at eye level with them to create a dynamic gaze between human and animal.
The film is structured around four intertwined elements, including three night-time expeditions. The first, already partially shot, shows night patrollers in Japan wielding GPS antennas to track bears roaming closer and closer to the city and chase them away.
The second expedition ventures into the Swedish forest, where night safaris search for wolves and moose, in a twilight world where they can still exist beyond human interference.
The third journey is based on research by Dr. Lianne Zanette in South Africa, where camera traps reveal that mammals are more afraid of the sound of human voices than of lion roars or even gunshots.
Interwoven with these night-time expeditions is the film’s fourth layer: a theatrical adaptation inspired by Djuna Barnes’ “Nightwood,” a novel steeped in nocturnal imagery. Actors will mimic animal behavior on stage, blurring the line between human and animal.
This final layer will give the film a theatrical feel. “Just as we light a theater stage, we create a staged, artificially lit human world in the dark of night, in the wilderness, which replicates the aesthetics of a play,” Petré explains. “We’re chasing them into the night, and we’re creating, for our own convenience, a space where we can see them.”
“Wolf Moon” marks Petré’s first collaboration with Hellström, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “When I saw the footage Robin sent me, I was completely blown away,” Hellström tells Variety. “She has an artistic eye that I haven’t seen in such a long time. The confidence in her storytelling is remarkable.”
While its concept may sound abstract, Petré assures that “Wolf Moon” will remain as accessible as her previous films. To achieve this, she has once again enlisted long-time collaborator Charlotte Munch Bengtsen (“All That Breathes,” “The Act of Killing”), who edited both “Only on Earth” and “From the Wild Sea,” her award-winning debut. Both films premiered at the Berlinale.
Currently in development, the €949,000 ($1.25 million) film is partly funded by the Danish Film Institute and Hellström’s Ström Pictures.
Thirty projects spanning early to late development and production are being pitched at CPH:FORUM, which runs in Copenhagen until March 27.
