Bermuda Sun: LookBermuda launches educational film series

6/4/2010 10:20:00 AM LookBermuda launches educational film series

Translocation: Conservationist Jeremy Madeiros cares for a cahow as part of his Cahow Translocation Project to help increase their numbers. Invasive species: The Aquarium’s collector of specimens, Chris Flook, examines a lionfish as part of the Lionfish Project. Sarah Lagan Writer/Sub-editor LookBermuda has launched a series of educational documentaries in partnership with the Ministry of Education covering Bermuda’s rich history, heritage and environment.  The ongoing series of films will be integrated into both the public and private curriculums in Bermuda.   LookBermuda launched the first of seven in the series, all shot in high definition, with a screening of The Riddle of the Crest on Wednesday evening. The 30-minute film examines the origins of the ship on Bermuda’s coat of arms, widely believed to be that of The Sea Venture. The Riddle of the Crest presents a compelling view that challenges this belief with appearances from such colourful characters as Teddy Tucker, marine engineering geophysicist, Steve Blasco and custodian of wrecks, Dr. Phillipe Rouja.   Bermuda’s original wreck, The Sea Venture will be the subject of another of the films documenting the discovery of Bermuda and the ship that found her. Among the subjects of other films are the unique ecosystem of the Sargasso Sea, a recent excavation of a wreck by students aboard the Spirit of Bermuda and the  translocation project of Bermuda’s national bird, the cahow, to help rebuild its numbers, documented over 5 years.

The threat of Bermuda’s invasive population of lionfish will be the subject of another film as will the grouper conservation project. 

The series is part of the new Strategic Partnership with the education department that LookBermuda has just announced. 

Jean-Pierre (J-P) Rouja, managing director of Look Bermuda, said: “For children to be learning from text books about foreign lands, isn’t as engaging as them seeing video content of their own country.

Family viewing 

“By default of Bermuda’s size the children will end up watching family and friends appearing in the productions. 

“We are not over-simplifying these films for educational purposes so they are still is relevant and interesting to the wider population. It’s great to see the first of the series to finally come out.” 

The series is the culmination of many years of producing dozens of shorter documentaries for LookTV during which 1,300 plus hours of HD footage has been shot. This footage  can now be repurposed for educational use. 

Links to The Riddle of the Crest can be found at LookBermuda.com and it will be screened on LookTV channel 1 nightly at 8pm for the next two weeks. 

The Minister of Education Elvin James said of the first film: “This will make a wonderful resource for teachers at all levels of our school system. The Riddle of the Crest has it all — it teaches history, demonstrates scientific research, provides insight into Bermuda’s natural history and raises awareness of Global Warming.  “We look forward to continuing the process of developing a strategic partnership with LookBermuda — a partnership that will produce the best results for our students.”

J-P Rouja added: “The films are being produced to International Network Standards and being a local company we have the benefit of being able to secure the perfect footage over several years. 

“These projects have been extremely time consuming and further sponsorship would be greatly appreciated, we are announcing the LookBermuda Educational Media Foundation for that purpose.

For more information visit: www.lookbermuda.com