January 4, 2019
By The Explorers Club
The Explorers Club Film Committee proudly presents Explorers Club Filmmakers Present…, a double screening of short films produced by Explorers Club Filmmakers during their time in the field: “Khammouane Vertical” by Aleksandr Rikhterman, and “Whisperers and Witnesses” by Wendy & Alan Kaplan – Wednesday, January 16 at 6:00 pm.
“Khammouane Vertical” was born in a fitting place that celebrates bold exploration and its findings, The Explorers Club. On a typical Friday night member gathering, expedition leader and executive producer, Peter Lenahan, approached Aleksandr Rikhterman on joining his expedition to produce a documentary. Fast forward a few months later and the expedition team were carrying a living relic of The Explorers Club – The Explorers Club Flag – into hundred foot high suspended cave entrances. But just as important as the exploration and mapping of these caves, Peter Lenahan financed the construction of a basic potable water supply system that enabled the local village that was used as expedition basecamp, to feel they have taken a step away from poverty.
Aleksandr Rikhterman is documentary filmmaker focusing on expeditions that take his viewers across the world. His student work earned him a 1st place college Emmy in 2015. Now some of his stories include a non-profit’s climb up Kilimanjaro, a national geographic expedition on the working conditions of wildlife rangers in Kyrgyzstan, exploring the high arctic, and more.
“Whisperers and Witnesses” takes viewers to the frontlines of great ape conservation, alongside Rachel Hogan, Director of Ape Action Africa and Dr. Sheri Speede, Director of Sanaga Yong Chimpanzee Rescue. Wendy and Alan Kaplan travel to Cameroon, to tell the story of these powerful women saving Gorillas and Chimpanzees, and also explore the wider fight against “bushmeat” across Africa.
Alan Kaplan is a world class photographer and videographer branding major corporate clients, as well as working with non for profits to create films that will connect with the emotional response of their audience by “shooting from the inside out”.
Wendy Kaplan’s love of exploration and adventure started living with the Yoruba people in Nigeria. She has been working with Alan Kaplan, creating film shorts that are empathetically based on endangered wildlife and threatened culture, as well as on-camera interviewing and hosting panels which feature key players in the world of wildlife and conservation.
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The Explorers Club is an international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. Since its inception in 1904, the Club has served as a meeting point and unifying force for explorers and scientists worldwide. It promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences.
The Club’s members have been responsible for an illustrious series of famous firsts: First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, and first to the surface of the moon. It is headquartered at 46 East 70th Street in New York City.