Coextinction: The Journey To Save An Extraordinary Species – A VIFF Film

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Join Tasha Simms and Marc Caron as they speak with Gloria Pancrazi and Elena Jean, the directors of Coextinction, making its Canadian Premiere at VIFF. Impending extinction comes to a tipping point for one of the world’s most iconic species, the Southern Resident orca, revealing a collapsing ecosystem and the true nature of our interconnectedness. In an action-packed and moving journey, two young female filmmakers join
Indigenous leaders and scientists to uncover corruption and stop injustice before it’s too late.

A FILM BY COEXISTENCE FILMS
94 mins, CANADA, 2021
FINALIST
2021 Jackson Wild Media Awards™
OFFICIAL SELECTION
2021 Jackson Wild Summit
CONTACT
Coexistence Films
[e-mail]
www.coextinctionfilm.com
@coextinctionfilm

You can Watch the Interview here:

FILM SYNOPSIS
In an emotional action-packed journey, COEXTINCTION follows filmmakers Gloria Pancrazi and
Elena Jean as they expose what it will take to save the last 74 Southern Resident orcas from
extinction. Ultimately, their findings reveal how the orcas’ endangerment is fundamentally tied to
the collapse of wild salmon populations and centuries of injustice against Indigenous peoples.
It’s a story about coextinction.

COEXTINCTION unearths devastating faults in corrupt, oppressive systems at the root of the
extinction crisis, follows a young orcas’ fight for survival, and reveals the true nature of our
interconnectedness, where social and environmental justice intersect. It’s a global film with
broad relevance, which amplifies Indigenous visions for change, and inspires bold action to
save the orca and our collective future.

DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT

GLORIA PANCRAZI

COEXTINCTION is a very personal story to me. I grew up fascinated with orcas, watching every
documentary, reading every book, and learning everything I could about this animal. When I
was 10 years old, I saw orcas for the first time off the coast of British Columbia. It was clear then
that I would spend my life working with them.
My early career was focused on how I could help them in captivity, but I never would have
imagined they’d be threatened in the wild as well. In 2017, upon learning the remaining 78
Southern Resident orcas were on the verge of extinction, I moved to a small island in the Salish
Sea to monitor them, spending countless hours on the water studying their behavioral patterns. I
witnessed first hand how dire the situation was.
Through COEXTINCTION, I want people to learn from these orcas. They are incredibly
emotionally intelligent beings who celebrate and grieve together. They have no home — they
are each other’s home. They work together through adversity and have learned how to coexist.
They embody the interconnectedness we need to understand, and are intimately connected to
the Indigenous communities we need to listen to.

ELENA JEAN
In 2017, I travelled to British Columbia to learn more about the endangered Southern Resident
orcas. I was following a curiosity and filming content for a wildlife conservation brand I’d built,
One Species. Little did I know then just how deeply involved in the story of the Southern
Resident orcas I’d become, and just how drastically that trip would alter my path.
From the get-go with COEXTINCTION, I was interested in the big picture: What’s happening to
the orca’s ecosystem? What is this indicator species trying to tell us?
This is what led us to the concept of “coextinction” — the loss of a species, resulting in the loss
or disappearance of other species that depend on it. We sometimes forget that the extinction of
a species doesn’t happen in isolation, it’s often the result of the vulnerability and degradation of
the relationships between that species and other life. Coextinction affects us all, everywhere,
and on a global scale.
I’ve put my heart and soul into this project and I’m moved beyond measure by what I’ve seen
and learned over the last few years. All life is interconnected, humans not excluded. If
audiences can understand this through COEXTINCTION, we may be able to save the Southern
Resident orcas, the Pacific Northwest, and ourselves.

We started to work on this project with one goal in mind: how can we ensure the Southern
Resident orcas don’t go extinct?
The Southern Resident orcas — known from Free Willy and Blackfish — are loved globally.
People connect with them in a very special way and there is a strong community devoted to
protecting them. In the making of COEXTINCTION, nine orcas and countless infants died. Time
is running out for these whales. That is the reality we were (and are) faced with while creating
this film.
This sense of urgency grew larger as we uncovered the connection to the collapse of wild
salmon – a globally consumed and culturally revered species – and the ongoing colonial
injustices against local Indigenous people.
The Pacific Northwest ecosystem is known worldwide as this pristine untouched wilderness, but
in reality, it’s being threatened by industry-run pipelines, fish farms, hydroelectric dams, and
more. Meanwhile, the original stewards of these lands and waters are left fighting a system that
continues to repress their stewardship and rights. All these issues are connected.
Throughout the story, we unravel the meaning of coextinction: the importance of looking at the
extinction crisis as a coextinction crisis. No species goes extinct in isolation. If the orca goes, so
go we.

WORK WITH INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

Filming for Coextinction took place on the ancestral homelands of over 15 Indigenous Nations in so-called Canada and the United States. Meaningful collaboration and trust was established early on in the process through informed consent and open communication of our story and intent. Characters featured in the film helped inform production logistics and secure appropriate rights and permissions. During filming, they were given space to tell their story as they wished.
Characters provided feedback, and revisions to cuts of the film.
As stewards to the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest since time immemorial, Indigenous perspectives are essential to the story of Coextinction. Amplifying their voices is a crucial step towards saving an ecosystem in crisis and towards meaningful truth and reconciliation.

CALLS TO ACTION

COEXTINCTION is a story about bold action and change. This story does not end with the film.
We are designing an ongoing impact campaign that challenges humanity, with a focus on
colonial capitalist societies, to transform and coexist with all life around us. This will be live by
the time of our World Premiere.
You can take action here: https://www.coextinctionfilm.com/action

About the Producers

Elena Jean: Director, Executive Producer, Producer, Editor

Elena Jean is a Canadian documentary filmmaker based out of Tofino, within the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. She has filmed endangered species around the world with world-renowned organizations like Sea Legacy and Milkywire. Her passion is to tell stories about hope, ingenuity, wild beauty, and to show the interconnected patterns of extinction.

Gloria Pancrazi: Director, Executive Producer, Producer

Gloria Pancrazi is a Canadian documentary filmmaker. She has worked on environmental and Indigenous justice documentaries like The Country and Impossible to Contain. After witnessing firsthand the impending extinction of the Southern Resident orcas, she decided to take the matter into her own hands and create Coextinction, a documentary that would educate and inspire people worldwide to take action.

Your Host(s)

Tasha Simms M.A. M.P.C.A

Tasha is a Registered Professional Counsellor and holds a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology. Her private practice is in downtown Vancouver where she works with both couples and individuals. www.AuthenticSelfCounselling.com
Tasha loves designing and facilitating personal growth workshops for diverse groups and businesses. She weaves her skills as a working actor, writer and motivational speaker with her creative, body centered therapeutic approach to teach passionate expression and acceptance of the Authentic Self. Her focus on healthy communication and conscious leadership inspires individuals, couples and organizations to be the best they can be and flourish.
Trained in a variety of disciplines including Family Systems Theory, Gestalt, as well as cognitive and Psycho/Spiritual orientations, she has been practicing the principles of A Course in Miracles for over 20 years. She is known as a mentor with integrity who has taught many individuals as well as counsellors, locally and internationally to embrace their birthright of a life of passionate purpose, joyfully human yet in perfect alignment with their spirit. As a certified Master Neuro Linguistic Programming facilitator trained in body work, energy healing and hypnotherapy, her contribution to support this integration is an audio series called Body Awareness Training.

http://www.authenticselfcounselling.com/

The training includes a sensory meditation designed to wake up feelings in the body, encourage self –knowledge and acceptance and also to invite a deep experience of the Divine Essence that is at the core of us all. Tasha’s curiosity, compassion and juicy celebration of life are just some of the gifts she brings to her commitment to be of service.

Her history in radio makes co-hosting at Conscious Living Radio feel like coming home. Tasha was one of the first female DJ’s on-air in Canada in the mid-day spot in rock n roll radio at Q-107 FM Toronto.

Email:[e-mail]

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