By Pat Burns
One boomer woman, a mature female elephant maimed by a land mine, and a dream to invent a prosthesis strong enough to help the elephant live out her remaining years — that’s part of the story told brilliantly by Windy Borman, director/producer of the heartwarming documentary The Eyes of Thailand.
Imagine having so much compassion and love for elephants that your entire life is consumed with creating the first elephant hospital, Friends of Asian Elephant Hospital, and engineering the first elephant prosthesis. That is exactly what Soraida Salwala, a Thai woman, along with a mostly all-volunteer team, was able to do.
This documentary tells a story about love, compassion and wondrous deeds of dedicated people, and skillfully enlightens the viewer about the cruelty and vast use of land mines — not just in Thailand and Burma but throughout the world. It is impossible to watch this film and not see the need to eliminate land minds globally. Distribution of this compelling documentary should be funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and it should be shown in high schools and colleges to raise social consciousness and motivate the future leaders of the free world — and to show that nearly impossible dreams are achievable.
The film premiered at the 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival, where it won the Festival’s Official Selection designation as well as a Humanitarian Award. This thought-provoking documentary is being honored at other film festivals as well. At the International Wildlife Film Festival The Eyes of Thailand was awarded the Animal Advocacy and Animation merit award, and the Humane Society of the United States awarded it an ACE documentary film grant for its creation of a documentary that highlights animal advocacy.
The Eyes of Thailand is searching for distribution. For updates on the film’s progress and on when and where you can see it, sign up for their newsletter. Go to http://www.eyesofthailand.com/ and add your email to the “Join our email list” found towards the bottom of the home page. From the home page you may also choose to make a donation to the Friends of Asian Elephant Hospital (FAE) to help Soraida Salwala and her teams continue their inspiring work.
When you listen to my interview with the film’s director, Windy Borman, you’ll learn how and why she made this film and how people can help the work of the Friends of Asian Elephant Hospital (FAE).
| Listen to the interview with Windy Borman Here! |
