Camel film at Wagstaffe

The Bouddi Society will present a Classic Film Night at the Wagstaffe Hall on Tuesday, June 2, from 7.30pm.

The film night will feature The Story of the Weeping Camel about a family of nomadic shepherds in the Gobi desert trying to save the life of a rare white Bactrian camel calf after it was rejected by its mother.

Society vice-president Mr David Dufty said the film provided an excellent insight into the daily lives of four generations of nomads living in the desert and blended reality footage with drama and magic.

"Although presented as a documentary, the film is actuality a docu-drama, with the members of the family portraying screen variants of themselves," Mr Dufty said.

"The setting and events are certainly real (even those depicting the calf's birth and its rejection by the mother), but the filmmakers have assembled their raw footage into a distinctive structural narrative that tells a heartfelt story about the necessity of parental love in order to survive in this harsh world."

According to Mr Dufty, the film has won the Directors Guild of America Award for the Best Documentary and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Film.

Entry to the film is $15 for non-members, $12 for members and $5 for students, including refreshments.

All proceeds from the film night will go towards funding local community projects.

Press release, 13 May 2009 David Dufty, Bouddi Society