Media Information 10 Feb 2014

‘Of Oozies and Elephants’ A film by Suzanne and Simon Campbell-Jones

Running time – 89 minutesDirector: Suzanne Campbell-JonesCountry of origin – filmed entirely in Myanmar /produced in Bath, UK

How to save the Asian elephant from extinction.

Myanmar (Burma) is the last country in the world to have working elephants logging their forests.

Their riders are called oozies. In this absorbing film scientists travel through Myanmar to investigate

whether working in this way may yet save this critically endangered species from extinction.

A quiet moment at an elephant rest camp deep in a Burmese forest. ©S.C-J

‘Of Oozies and Elephants’ won the Audience Award at the Bath Film Festival 2013.

Notes

‘Of Oozies and Elephants’ offers a portrait of a beautiful country, astonishing urban pagodas, sweeping plains and paddy fields and fabulous untouched forests. The Elephants are the stars. Burmese timber elephants are semi-captive. They work during the day and are let out into the forest at night to forage and socialise. Each handler, the oozie, begins his day by tracking his animal and bringing it back to camp for a hilarious bath before the day’s work begins.

Being the first film crew in since the re-opening of Burma allowed us to capture scenes seldom if ever seen. We followed a group of international scientists led by ‘elephant lady’ Dr.Khyne U Mar. Access to the elephant camps was unique. Camp life gives the scientists a ‘living laboratory’ to collect data about height, weight, blood, hair and faeces. No camera has been so up close and so very personal with elephants before.

The scientists came from the UK, from Finland, Germany, Thailand and the USA to share their work with Myanmar vets. They teach the use of ultrasound technology and how to masturbate bull elephants to collect semen for artificial insemination and genetic research. They also began the first TB testing of elephants in Myanmar. The elephants make it quite clear vocally when they don’t want to co-operate. They are truly amazing animals.

Elephants feature in almost every aspect of Myanmar life and culture. Love of elephants is palpable. Timber is worth 30% of the economy yet Myanmar has the biggest area of deciduous forest in South East Asia. By logging with elephants, by taking out one tree at a time, they have saved Burma’s forests. The scientists believe the Burmese timber elephants may yet save their entire species from extinction. That is a huge thought.

Oozie gives his elephant an evening snack. ©S.C-J

Director’s statement:

People ask “how do you get to film elephants in Myanmar”. The answer is it took fourteen years. I

was writing a book in Papua New Guinea. In a remote eco-lodge in a rainforest I met an American

veterinarian who had just been working in London with Burmese vet Dr.Khyne U Mar. I met Khyne U

Mar in the London Zoo. She talked about her discovery of unique elephant log books going back to

the nineteenth century and about the importance of elephants for the forests of her country. It

sounded very exciting.

Years later, with the opening up of Myanmar, Khyne U Mar was at last able to get a group of

scientists together to visit her country. With my husband acting as sound recordist we were

attached to the group and followed their work which began with weighing the elephants. It was a

first for almost everyone including the elephants. We shadowed the scientists and soon got used to

being surrounded by the huge elephants. The people we met in Myanmar were helpful, courteous

and made us welcome. Strangers guided us to the best view points in the great Schwedagon (golden

pagoda) in Yangon. We were keen to show how important the elephant is in Buddhist culture.

Burmese timber elephants are semi-captive. They work during the day and are let out into the

forest at night to forage, socialise and perhaps mate with wild elephants. Each handler, called an

oozie, begins his day before dawn by tracking his animal and bringing it back to camp for a hilarious

bath before preparing for the day’s work. The elephant becomes one of the family. They train

together as teenagers and live approximately the same lifespan. One of the highlights for me was

filming the elephants at home in the oozie village.

Camp life gives the scientists a ’living laboratory’ to improve on the log books and collect data about

height, weight, blood, semen, hair and faeces. We filmed everything including the use of ultrasound

technology on a pregnant white elephant and semen collection from some big bull elephants which

involved a technique of masturbation. It provoked some hilarity amongst the vets and seemed to

mystify the elephants. Another first was TB testing. TB is endemic in humans in South East Asia. It

can pass from humans to elephants and visa versa. The test involves taking blood from the ear. The

elephants were surprisingly co-operative but when they objected the roars were seriously loud.

Worse case predictions say that the Asian elephant will be extinct in a hundred years. On the

evidence we saw Myanmar timber elephants could save their whole species. By using elephants for

selective logging, taking one tree at a time, they have saved Burma’s forests. This will only continue

if they are bred and kept successfully. By the end of our trip we were convinced that scientific

research and logging with elephant must go on if there is any hope of saving these iconic animals.

Daily bath ©S.C-J the team arrive in Myanmar ©S.C-J

Ends

For further information please contact the producer Suzanne Campbell-Jones at info@mostlymovies.co.uk or website:ooziesandelephants.co.uk twitter:@oozieselephants

Credits:

Narrator: Calum Campbell-JonesMusic Saffron AllenEditor and Sound; Simon Campbell-JonesWritten, Filmed & Directed by Suzanne Campbell-Jones

Main contributors:

Myanma Asian Elephant Research Project, University of Sheffield, UKOozies, Vets and Range Officers of Myanmar Timber Enterprise Burmese vets Myo Nay Zar and Aung Thu Ra SoeFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, ThailandDr. Khyne U Mar, Research Fellow, University of SheffieldDr.Virpi Lumma, Principal Investigator, University of SheffieldHannah Mumby, University of SheffieldDr.Janine Brown, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USADr.Susan Mikota, Elephant Care InternationalDr. Chatchote Thikaram, Chiang Mai UniversityDr.Nickorn Thongtip, Kasetsart University, Bangkok

Film-maker biographies

Simon Campbell-Jones never wanted to do anything else but make films. As a young man he worked on industrial documentaries and won a Gold medal in Venice for “Trawler Captain” a documentary on a North Atlantic fishing trawler. He moved to television made many science and technology documentaries for the BBC in London and WGBH, Boston where he was the originating producer on the NOVA series for PBS in the USA. He made the controversial “ Whales, Dolphins and Men” which started off the Friends of the Earth campaign to stop whaling. His film “First Signs of Washoe” about Chimpanzee sign language won awards in many countries. While Editor of the HORIZON series for the BBC, he was responsible for around 150 programmes on global topics. Continued making films and editing books, particularly on medicine, development and sustainability, all over the world including Africa, India, and China. Produced a 13 part series on global history and a 5 part series on global environmental movements. Many awards including two nominations from the British Academy. Recently he has taken on editing saying it takes him back to his beginnings and the language of film.

Suzanne Campbell-Jones started out as an anthropologist and has a Ph.D from the London School of Economics. Her book IN HABIT, a study of Roman Catholic nuns was published in London by Faber & Faber and in New York by Random House. At the age of 35 she joined the BBC making programmes for the Open University and remained for 8 years. She made an award-winning film on computer languages for HORIZON. In 1995 while writing a book in Papua New Guinea she met an American vet in a rainforest. She introduced the idea of making a film about Khyne U Mar and her work with elephants. Meanwhile as a free-lance director she has made many award-winning science documentaries in many different parts of the world. Also quite a few arts documentaries including ‘Field in China’ with Anthony Gormley and ‘A Gal and her Gallery’ about avant garde artists from around the world. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute. For her last few projects she has undertaken the photography herself.

How to weigh an elephant ©S.C-J