Short Documentary
(10 min.)
Festival Screenings: Freeland Film Festival, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital, KLEFF, Portland EcoFilm Festival, Green Screen Environmental Film Festival, MINK Festival
Set against the backdrop of the illegal wildlife trade, THE RESCUE CENTER offers a glimpse into the daily activities of Cikananga Wildlife Center in Indonesia. Cikananga operates on the front lines of the wildlife crisis, rescuing animals from an abusive multi-billion dollar, global industry. Victims of the trade are captured from the wild, often as babies, and are sold as pets, bushmeat, dancing monkeys, or ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine.
Animal keeper Ade Solihin has been working at Cikananga for eight years. His work falls into a daily routine of feeding the birds and primates under his care and cleaning their cages. Growing up in a poor family, Ade never had grand dreams, but working at Cikananga gives him a way to support his children, just as it gives the animals he cares for a second chance at life.
MEET THE TEAM:
NIKKI DODD
Director, Cinematographer & Editor
At age 10, Nikki Dodd dreamt of being a zoo keeper when she grew up. Decades later, a career in zoology never materialized, but now Nikki channels her love of wildlife and the environment into her films. Her work has screened at various film festivals, including the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital, International Wildlife Film Festival, Moving Waters Film Festival, and Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival. Nikki is committed to documentary filmmaking that deepens our understanding of nature and people in today’s global, interconnected world.
BRYN BLISKA
Original Score
Bryn Bliska is a musician, composer and producer based in Brooklyn, NY. She frequently collaborates with artists & producers across many genres, and has scored video & podcast projects for the New York Times, NPR, the Getty Museum, and TED. An artist in her own right, she was a recipient of the 2015 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, and is excited to be releasing new solo work in 2020. Her sound merges a childhood soundtracked by '90s pop and R&B jams with her jazz training and affinity for technology.
PAOLA COSSERMELLI MESSINA
Sound Design
Paola Cossermelli Messina is a sound designer and audio engineer exploring the intersections between music, politics and gender. She holds a B.A. in Music and Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.A. in Media Studies from The New School, with a specialization in sound. Her Master's thesis on the oral histories of Iranian women musicians received an award from the Middle East Studies Association and was later presented and published by Yale University.
RORY MOON
Graphics
Growing up in rural New Hampshire, Rory Moon has always felt a strong connection to the natural world, and is constantly seeking to better understand our complex relationship with it. His work has screened at DOC NYC, the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital, and Moving Waters Film Festival and KVIFF in India. Since working for Vice News Tonight and MTV News in New York, Rory now lives in Indonesia making orangutan conservation films.
