The documentary film “Picture Of His Life,” about award-winning wildlife stills photographer and environmental activist Amos Nachoum, will make its U.S. premiere this month.
The film follows the life and career of Nachoum, who has dedicated his life to photographing the world’s largest and most fearsome predators in order to give them a voice and show them to people in a light that replaces fear with respect. His ultimate goal is to build an appreciation for the animals’ power and beauty so people are more motivated to protect them.
Nachoum hopes to dispel the myths surrounding large predators by getting up close and personal with them, giving an intimacy to his big animal photography that is unrivaled. He has swum unprotected with crocodiles, killer whales, anacondas and great white sharks.
However, one major predator has always eluded him. The legendary image maker has always dreamed of swimming underwater with a polar bear and capturing it face-to-face on film. He tried once before and barely escaped with his life.
As the journey unfolds in the Canadian High Arctic, Nachoum contemplates the series of unspoken events that drove him here, to the end of the world. From an Inuit camp on an isolated island, he confronts the traumas of his past, particularly as a veteran of Israel’s 1973 Yom Kippur War.
To succeed he must overcome the wounds inflicted by both family conflict and war. Aided by the calm wisdom of his Inuit guides, who face their own epiphany of a paradise lost, Nachoum seeks out his ultimate diving challenge in the extreme cold of the Arctic Sea. It has been a long and painful journey but where others find fear, he finds redemption.
“Picture Of His Life” will be shown July 25th at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
The movie’s world premiere took place on May 23rd, when it opened the 21st annual Docaviv, the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival. It earned a second-place finish out of 120 films in the Public Choice Competition.
For more information about the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival or to purchase tickets, go to jfi.org.
Check out the trailer below.
