The prestigious Princess Anne Theatre on London’s Piccadilly set the stage for a unique movie night entitled ‘A Celebration of Salmon’ where kindred spirits of the salmon fishing world gathered in force to support and thank multi-award winning conservationist Orri Vigfusson and to help raise funds for his remarkable North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF).
Presented were two superb films made by keen salmon fishers and loyal NASF supporters:
A Passion Called Salmon – which follows the personal journey of filmmaker Sasa Savic in his pursuit of the world’s most iconic fish – the Atlantic salmon. Sasa travels from his New York office to some of the world’s most beautiful rivers and asks some burning questions on the way, “Why do we go so far out of our way in order to catch big salmon? What is behind an almost obsessive connection with this creature?” The result is a beautiful documentary about salmon and salmon fishing and his exploration of the close bond between the fisher and the fish. The film ends with a heartfelt plea for us all to protect this wonderful fish for future generations.
Gaula: River of Silver and Gold – a film celebrating the salmon of Norway’s famous river Gaula and the conservation work of Manfred Raguse and the Norwegian Fly Fishers Club which he founded in 1988. Directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker (BBC/Animal Planet) Daniel Göz in partnership with Anton Hamacher, this is a cinematographic masterpiece of salmon fishing set in a truly lovely location. True to his wildlife documentary background, Göz also spent three weeks of a Norwegian winter regularly immersed in the freezing waters of the Gaula in order to capture stunning footage of huge Norwegian salmon spawning. With the use of high-tech cameras set on mini-helicopters, time-lapse photography and underwater shots of amazing clarity this is an outstanding example of the modern film maker’s art.
A Passion Called Salmon is available on DVD from www.iselltackle.co.uk and Gaula; River of Gold from www.gaulathemovie.com and funds raised go directly to support the NASF.
The evening was organised by MacNab Media and NASF with generous sponsorship from Deutsche Bank, Solventis, Grassy Creek, Farlows and Orvis. An auction of lots donated by Deutsche Bank, The Fly Fisher Group, Farlows, Sportfish, Patagonia, Orvis, Fish&Fly and Loop Tackle also raised funds for NASF.
Although a BAFTA could not be awarded to Orri Vigfusson on the night he was keen to say:
“I am delighted with the work of Sasa Savic, Daniel Goz and Anton Hamacher in producing such superb films highlighting the plight of Atlantic Salmon. The opportunity to premiere these films at BAFTA with their superb equipment and facilities demonstrated the truly outstanding quality of these films and enabled us to promote our work to a prestigious audience. I take this opportunity to thank our generous sponsors and supporters“.
The BAFTA was indeed the perfect venue to celebrate salmon and to support the tireless and vital conservation work of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund.
