“We are tomorrow’s ancestors.”
500 Days in the Wild is an independent feature documentary about an artist’s
ecological pilgrimage on the world’s longest trail.
“We are living a broken myth. We’ve lost our way.” Dianne’s journey began five years ago, when she set out on an ecological pilgrimage to honour the land, the water, our ancestors, and to search for the wisdom needed to protect the Earth for future generations, while simultaneously filming a documentary about the experience.
From pushing 150-pounds of bike and packs over rocks, to hiking through flooded bogs, paddling the largest lake in the world, snowshoeing through dense coniferous forests, skiing across wind-blown plains, biking along pristine trails in all seasons, the trail beckons. “The purpose of 500 Days in the Wild is to inspire reverence for this Earth again. A new mindset; a journey of reconciliation ~ learning, listening, and letting go. At its very heart, that’s what this film is all about.”
A Letter from Dianne
It is an honour to walk in partnership with CPAWS. As a storyteller, my purpose in creating 500 Days in the Wild is to make a film that inspires a return to a place of reverence for the Earth.
Film is the most powerful artistic medium of our time. And I am called to make a film about the longest trail in the world, an umbilical cord of land and water that connects us all, and the ancestors of this land called Turtle Island who lived here thousands of years ago.
My projects over the last three decades have all been the result of blending my passion for adventure, art, and nature, including films and books on Everest and the High Arctic. This is the first time in my 30-year career that I have collaborated with an organization, and I chose CPAWS because we share the same core values about protecting the land and water for wildlife and humans. It’s about protecting our Home, and finding what binds us together, not what rips us apart. We share in that responsibility with a commitment to do this important work in a framework of reconciliation.
In love and gratitude
Dee
2021 Update
Gemini-Nominated Documentary Filmmaker Dianne Whelan, 500 Days in the Wild
APRIL 2021 | Artist of Impact Update – Coming Home with more Questions than Answers
500 Days in the Wild is a feature documentary about an artist’s journey to look for lost wisdom on the world’s longest trail. A story that calls us back to a place of reverence for the earth. Whelan, now in the final months of her ecological and reconciliation pilgrimage along The Great Trail (the Trans Canada Trail), recently provided the following update. View film trailer here. View further details here.
“When I embarked on this 24,000 km decision in 2015, I chose to travel from East to West to follow the sun as it led me back home.
The question I asked myself before I left wasn’t, ‘What is the easiest way?’
It was, ‘What is the most meaningful way?’
This directional choice also meant hiking, biking, and paddling into a head wind most of the way with more hills to climb then descend. It was the harder way, and I knew that.
As I approach the end of the trail and prepare to make the film, the question again arises, ‘What is the most meaningful way?’ The answer is clear, ‘In partnership‘. With the currency of love and human kindness that carried the journey through years and the thousands of kilometers back home.
The whispers in the wind, the interconnectivity of the trees, and the songs of the waves all sing reminders that we are One.”
~ Dianne Whelan
PowHERhouse is pleased to be working closely with Dianne as an Impact Producer, building relationships, support, momentum, and awareness throughout the film’s production and launch.
In partnership with two incredible social organizations, you can now play a significant support role in helping us to fundraise for this project and receive a tax-deductible receipt for your contribution to creative impact through the artistry of filmmaking. Together, we can provide the opportunity for complete creative control to remain in the hands of Dianne as a truly independent filmmaker and her amazing team of producers, editors, interns, and of course, impact champions.
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Read release as originally posted on PowHERhouse.
More about Dianne and 500 Days
The Beacon Project
The Players in the Partnership