Requiem 2019

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The last remaining blue whale shares its story of extinction with its only enemy; mankind.

Indigenous cultures are amongst the first to pay the price of climate change, often pushing them to the brink of extinction. This crisis is directly linked to our consumer culture.Whales, the largest and perhaps most majestic animals that ever lived on our planet, are still being slaughtered for human consumption under the false banner of 'research'. This film was made to support the activities of Sea Shepherd, the anti-whaling organisation that takes action against this injustice.

Directors & writers

Sil van der Woerd & Rutger Hauer

Featuring

Rutger Hauer

Music

Lolly Jane Blue

Illegal Whaling

Blue whales can reach a weight of up to 180 tonnes, and a length up to 30m. They can reach an age of 80-90 years and love to sing, hitting notes our ears can’t even perceive. What is not to love?

‍

Although whaling is illegal in Denmark, the annual hunt known as the grindadráp, is still allowed in the Faroe Islands, which is part of Denmark. Here, hundreds of whales are still killed annually.

‍

Legendary actor Rutger Hauer (1944-2019), known for his roles in Blade Runner and Batman Begins, reached out to us to make a film to support Sea Shepherd, for which he was an ambassador.

“Although we're not the kind of people who have the stomach to go on a boat to block vessels on their way to the act of whaling, we felt that we can be the kind of people that make a film about it and take a stand against this injustice.”

Director Sil van der Woerd

Production

We captured Rutger's performance on a greenscreen stage in Denmark. We created the environment for our film digitally, and built a whale that we animated floating through the landscape.

‍

Real whaling footage supplied to us by Sea Shepherd was projected onto the digital whale's body, creating a haunting juxtaposition.

View More Work