Natural History: The Jewel in the Jungle’s Crown

If Werner Herzog's next feature was a vintage sci-fi flick, the airship built by his protagonist, Dr. Graham Dorrington, would be a giant white fish that had come to invade the canopy of Guyana's lush rainforest. But there's nothing fictional about the science that brought the crew of The White Diamond - among them producer Annette Scheurich of Marco Polo Film - to Kaieteur National Park in July, 2004. For three years, the Mainz-based prodco investigated the potential riches of the jungle's dense roof and invested about E90,000 (US$109,000) into building Dorrington's helium-powered balloon. The resulting HD feature will debut on November 12 at the premiere of European DocuZone, a network of 182 digital cinemas across eight countries that's dedicated to showcasing documentaries.

October 1, 2004

If Werner Herzog's next feature was a vintage sci-fi flick, the airship built by his protagonist, Dr. Graham Dorrington, would be a giant white fish that had come to invade the canopy of Guyana's lush rainforest. But there's nothing fictional about the science that brought the crew of The White Diamond - among them producer Annette Scheurich of Marco Polo Film - to Kaieteur National Park in July, 2004. For three years, the Mainz-based prodco investigated the potential riches of the jungle's dense roof and invested about E90,000 (US$109,000) into building Dorrington's helium-powered balloon. The resulting HD feature will debut on November 12 at the premiere of European DocuZone, a network of 182 digital cinemas across eight countries that's dedicated to showcasing documentaries.