WHALES OF GOLD

A ﬁlm by Lucia Duncan

NEXTFRAMEFILM FESTIVAL

BEST DOCUMENTARY2009

UFRAMEFILM FESTIVAL

BEST DOCUMENTARY2009

SAN DIEGOLATINO FILMFESTIVAL

SELECTION2010

BORDOCSFILM FESTIVAL

SELECTION2009

FRI CINESOCIOAMBIENTALFESTIVAL

SELECTION2009

Every winter, following the migration of grey whales, tourists, scientists, andconservationists descend upon the San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California, Mexico.Their presence - and the establishment of Latin America's largest biospherereserve - brings profound change to the lagoon’s small ﬁshing community.Twelve-year-old Antonio negotiates between the different points of viewof locals and outsiders about the changes and what the future will bring.“Whales of Gold” raises questions about how to conserve habitat and speciesin a way that also sustains the livelihoods of local people. (38 min.)

Lucia Duncan . (512) 585 0419 . luciaduncan@gmail.com . whalesofgold.blogspot.com

Partial Funding by:

directcinemalimited

Lucia Duncan . (512) 585 0419 . luciaduncan@gmail.com . whalesofgold.blogspot.com

Director’s Statement

I am fascinated by the way in which ecotourism is marketed as a trip to paradise – a form of tourism thatdoes no harm, a win-win situation for tourists, local people, and the environment. Ecotourism is thefastest growing sector of the global tourism industry and is especially important to the economies ofdeveloping countries. While tourists delight in their immersion in untouched nature - beautiful scenery andexotic animals - they often have no real contact with local people. I wanted to make a lm that wouldexplore the impact of ecotourism on one community from the perspective of local people.The San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California Sur is famous for the annual migration of grey whales that givebirth in its protected waters. This phenomenon draws thousands of tourists, scientists, and conservationists andhas brought profound change to what is otherwise a remote shing village. One of the most signicant changeswas the establishment of the Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, the largest Natural Protected Area in Latin America, to protect the whales and other natural resources. The San Ignacio Lagoon is held up as a modelof successful ecotourism and conservation, but in fact the benets to the local community have beenlimited. There is only one local family-owned whale watching company, which struggles to survive. Whilesome local people work seasonally in tourism, most are shermen who would like to see support for other forms ofeconomic development such as a sh processing plant. They feel marginalized from decision-making aboutthe lagoon’s future and fear that their families will be displaced as ecotourism grows. My hope is thatWHALES OF GOLD will help viewers think more critically about the multiple impacts of ecotourism and conservationand who benets from the changes they bring.

Lucia Duncan . (512) 585 0419 . luciaduncan@gmail.com . whalesofgold.blogspot.com

Crew Bios

Lucia Duncan, Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor

Lucia has directed lms about labor, tourism, culture, and the environment. Her lm MAKING HISTORY:SEIU AND THE LABOR MOVEMENT won a CINE Golden Eagle Award. As a Fulbright Fellow in Brazil, shemade OLINDA: WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE SITE and LORD OF OLINDA, and worked for Video in the Villages, teaching documentary production to indigenous youth. She has a BA in Development Studies andPortuguese/Brazilian Studies from Brown University and an MFA in Film/Video from the University of Texas.

Joanna Rabiger, Editing Consultant

Joanna is a freelance editor and documentary lm grantwriter. Recent credits include: Writer, GIVE UPTOMORROW, feature documentary dir./prod. Marty Syjuco and Michael Collins (forthcoming); Creative Advisor, MY INVISIBLE GIRLFRIEND, feature documentary dir. David Redmon and Ashley Sabin ofCarnivalesque Films, (forthcoming); Editor, THE LONG HAUL, feature documentary dir. Liz Welch Tirrell,2008; Editor, THE WAY NORTH/LA VOIE DU NORD, feature documentary dir. Shara K. Lange, 2007;Editing Consultant/Associate Producer, INSIDE THE CIRCLE, feature documentary dir. Marcy Garriott,2007; Editor, DRESSED TO KILL, feature documentary dir. Carol Wagner, 2005; Editor, GIRL WRESTLER,feature documentary dir. Diane Zander broadcast Independent Lens series, PBS, 2004.

Luis Blanco, Boom Operator

Luis is acquiring his degree in Audiovisual Communications at the Autonomous University of Baja California(UABC), Tijuana, Mexico. He has worked independently in the production of local TV commercials,documentaries, short lms, music videos, radio podcasts, and audiovisual art. He has collaborated withYONKEart, Esferacorp, Polen audiovisual, and Sergio Brown Figueredo's TIJUANA SOUND MACHINE musicvideo for Nortec Collective.

Jim Hershman, Composer

As a guitarist, Jim has performed with such diverse artists as Lee Konitz, Steve Swallow, Jon Hendricks, TheClayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Billy Porter, Patty Lupone, Jimmy Webb andmany others. Jim holds a B.A. in Political Science from the California State University, Northridge and an M.A.M.from the Manhattan School of Music. He lives in New York and is active in both the jazz and theatre communities.