Return to Amazon – Pitch Document
Return to Amazon
Format: 52min full HD/4K cultural documentary
Genre’s: Documentary, Wildlife, Culture, Sociology
Protagonist: Davey Du Plesses – Explorer and director of ‘The Sixth Extinction’ NGO
Setting: Amazon River – Peru
Pitch Summary
Return to Amazon is a 52 minute natural history documentary filmed on location on the Amazon River, Peru. The documentary follows Davey Du Plessis, a 28 year old South African adventurer, on an epic quest to return to the Amazon jungle to face what almost killed him. In 2012, Davey was on a solo expedition of the Amazon river, two months into the expedition he was hunted; shot and left for dead by two Peruvian Indians. He was rescued by an isolated community and transported between five remote villages over 24 hours, until finally he was delivered to a hospital where his life was saved despite extensive internal injuries.
The communities that risked and dedicated so much to saving him have no idea what became of Davey. In 2017 Davey will return to the Amazon. Starting at the hospital where he was saved, he will trek his way along the river, rediscovering those communities that helped him, thanking them, and engaging them to understand why they helped save a foreigner with nothing to offer them in return or spoke their language. He will find out, what, if any impact his rescue has had on their lives since 2012. Davey will then take on his biggest mission, to search out and locate the men who attacked and shot him – whom he suspects belong to the same community that first helped him. In this action, Davey is seeking forgiveness and an understanding of the motivation behind his attempted murder. Were they protecting drug crops? Was it a robbery? Or was Davey simply a stranger in the wrong place at the wrong time?
This journey is about gratitude, forgiveness, discovery and understanding. It will cover how the Amazon communities can, on the one hand be so generous and giving, but on the other, produce men that are willing to kill, possibly for a few meagre possessions. Davey will explore and discover the diverse, conflicted and engaging indigenous communities of the Amazon. It is a personal quest to find understanding in the single most formative event of his life.
About Davey
Davey Du Pl
essis is a young adventurer, who explores and discovers the world whilst undertaking challenging and extreme adventures. His motivation arises from the need to bring awareness to the sixth extinction that is currently underway, and he is aware that through his adventures he can give a voice to the untold damage humans are having on the earth and its wildlife/ biodiversity. In recent years, he has cycled the length of Africa, missioned the Amazon (before being shot) and is currently preparing to peddle solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Davey is a extreme young adventurer who holds deep his idealism and does not sway from his life of oneness with the world. For seven years he has been a raw vegan and consumed no cooked food, meat or dairy, surviving on a diet of raw fruits, grains and vegetables. To learn more about Davey, visit his website and view some of his public talks.
Pitch Preview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q3txq8nm5w
Production crew
Africa Media is planning to team up with a selected show runner production company with an established relationship with the buyer to ensure that the production is entrusted to a known and well respected company with an established track record to producing for the broadcaster. We have yet to engage any production company, and are awaiting consultation with commissioners.
Producer – Africa Media & Selected show runner
Director – Ryan Johnson
Director of Photography – Daniel Gahnstrom
Onscreen Talent – Davey Du Plesses\
Stills Photographer- Fiona Ayerst
Local Guide / Security / Translator – T.B.D
