Hugh MacDonald

The Orchard

One morning, as kids are stealing apples from an old man’s orchard high above a seaside town, an earthquake hits. No one is hurt, and the townsfolk are non-plussed, but the old man is agitated: he alone is aware of the imminent tsunami and tries to warn the village. Based on a classic Japanese fable, The Orchard was made by one-man band Bob Stenhouse, who had been nominated for an Academy Award the previous decade for pioneer tale The Frog, The Dog and The Devil. Fans of the animator will recognise his lush, luminous hand-drawn style.

Primeval Survivors

The tuatara is the sole survivor of a reptile species that has been extinct for 135 million years. This nocturnal creature which once lived world-wide, is now confined to a few off-shore islands in New Zealand. Tuataras grow up to 60 cm (two feet) in length, live to 150 years of age and have survived virtually unchanged since primeval times. The film is set on tiny Stephen's Island, a wildlife sanctuary which is a home for 100,000 of these unique reptiles.