Source: https://deadline.com/2017/10/emma-thompson-harvey-weinstein-predator-iceberg-bbc-1202187274/
When it comes to great ape conservation, women seem to be the ones at the front line, with the most recent crusader being Academy Award winning actress, Emma Thompson.
Thompson has long been an outspoken environmental activist, having bought land near Heathrow Airport to prevent the building of a third runway, narrated a documentary on corporate attempts to discredit climate science and teamed up with Greenpeace to raise awareness of Arctic oil drilling. Now, she has teamed up with them again to produce a new animated short film highlighting the plight of Asia’s beleaguered ape, the orangutan.
The 90 second short, narrated by Thompson in rhyme and entitled: There’s a Rang-Tan in my bedroom, features a little girl who wakes up one morning to find a baby orangutan in her bedroom. Angered by it destroying her plants and throwing away her chocolate and shampoo, she orders it to leave and asks why it is there in the first place. We are then shown grim black and white footage of a bulldozer hacking its way through the forest, killing the baby orangutan’s mother and leaving behind swathes of burnt land and withered trees. Upon learning that this is done for the palm oil in her food and cosmetics, the little girl is moved and promises the orphaned orangutan to do all she can to stop the palm oil industry from destroying the forest.
The film ends with a dedication to the 25 orangutans that die every day due to deforestation and urges viewers to sign a new Greenpeace petition urging big companies to divest away from palm oil.
With World Orangutan Day coming up, this poignant film is a timely reminder of our urgent need to conserve the orangutans and to solve this palm oil crisis before it is too late. You can help by avoiding palm oil products wherever possible and by supporting Masarang’s care and rescue work with the Sintang Orangutan Centre. Every donation counts.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ha6xUVqezQ
Happy World Orangutan Day!
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