"In the Shadow of Kangchenjunga", our film of the butterflies of Sikkim, which was released in January 2009, won another Award for Cinebutterflies at the 32nd International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula, Montana, USA, in April. Given a Special Mention for its Cinematography, the film was the fifth to receive an Award. Three other films have been distinguished for their scientific content, and one for its educational content.

The Festival attracts entries worldwide and is the largest annual gathering of wildlife filmmakers.

Ever since my first sight of the great Kangchenjunga range in 1962, I have wanted to make a film of the butterflies of Sikkim against the background of the Himalayan peaks. In 2006 Pat and I managed a short trip, into Sikkim, and the Darjeeling District of West Bengal, which once was also part of greater Sikkim.

You can see the results in In the shadow of Kangchenjunga, released on DVD in January 2009.

Made to help Sikkim schools introduce young people to the beauties and wonders of that marvellous country's natural heritage, the film runs for 35 minutes and presents a lively selection of its butterflies. As always it is shot close up, and brings the riches of the butterflies vividly to life, as well as the valleys and forests of the Himalayan foothills.

The Asian species are also shown on our 2 films, Palawan... Butterfly Paradise which you can buy on DVD, and "Wonders of the East" which we hope to have available on DVD soon.

Our 3-week mission to Madagascar in November 2007, with a group from Florida, was a big learning experience (code for 'disaster'). As a warning to others who may suffer the same difficulties, here are the lessons we learnt.

As with all our films, the DVD format is “region-free” ie suitable for all parts of the world, including the USA.

Latest from the 2007 Missoula International Wildlife Film festival in Montana
“O Que Pasa? What’s Going On Here?” - our 2006 production on the butterflies of the Rio Cristalino Reserve in Brazil – won a Merit Award for Presentation of Information.

“The Final Judges were very judicious and gave a great deal of critical analysis to every entry this year, viewing 115 Finalists,” said the Festival Director in announcing the result. To receive a Merit Award is very meaningful and you should feel very proud.”

This is the 5th Award won by Cinebutterflies films -

• In 1998 “Puzzles of the Past: probing the history of Europe’s butterflies” won a Scientific Content Award
• in 2002 “Palawan…Butterfly Paradise” won both a Scientific and an Educational Award.
• In 2005 “Butterflies of Kenya” also won a Scientific Award

The Cristalino Lodge owner, Dona Vitoria, reports that almost all the visitors to the Lodge now see the DVD “O Que Pasa? What’s Going On Here?” and are amazed at the amount of information it offers, as well as showing the beauty of the rainforest there.

We - Pat and I, that is – visited India in October –November 2006, filming the butterflies and also the high mountains, especially Kanchenjunga and Narsing.

Ian Johnson at Pemberely Books took over as our main distributor in 2008, and all our films can be found in his catalogue and at his excellent website www.pembooks.demon.co.uk.

You can mail him at ian.johnson@pemberleybooks.com, and his address is:

18 Bathurst Walk,
Iver,
Bucks, SL0 9AZ
United Kingdom

“The Butterflies of Kenya” - the eighth film in John Banks’ series on the World’s Butterflies - went on sale in 2004, in VHS and DVD format .

In March 2005, the film became the third in our series to win an Award at the International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula, Montana.

“The Butterflies of Kenya” won an Honourable Mention for its Scientific Content at the 28th Festival.