The first IMAX 3D film on the monarch butterfly migration is on the go

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Lev Bely, 03.10.2012 22:38

The first IMAX 3D film 'Flight of the Butterflies' about the annual monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) migration recently premiered at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, US.

The premiere gathered 400 guests including Mexico's President Felipe Calderon and government officials, the Mexico Tourism Board and the Mexican Embassy delegates.

The film reveals the story of a unique research of monarch butterflies that has been led by a scientist Fred Urquhart for the last 40 years, to discover where monarch butterflies go to spend winter and where exactly in Mexico they overwinter. Every year monarch butterflies in hundreds of millions take off from Canada and fly south through America to Mexico, where they reach 3000-meter height in the Sierra Madre mountains to finish their great trip. Urquhart was also the first who invented monarch butterfly tagging to trace their complete migration route.

Felipe Calderon, who is native to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state, spent his childhood near the butterfly sanctuaries. “We must remain committed to the conservation of these fragile creatures and their threatened habitats,” Calderon said.

In 2008 UNESCO recognized the Mexican monarch butterfly sanctuary as a World Heritage site.

The Mexican government and leading conservation organizations keep butterfly protection and butterfly sanctuaries getting better.

Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, Mexico’s secretary of environment and natural resources, thinks the film is “a brilliant example of Mexico’s commitment to sustainability.” “While there is more for us to do, our credentials in the industry are strong and, for this, we are immensely proud,” says Quesada.

The 'Flight of the Butterflies' released October 1st, and the next months it can be seen in many cinemas in America and Mexico. During the year the film will be also released in Canada and other countries. This is about the IMAX 3D movie specifics: the release dates may fluctuate over months or even years.

The film was produced by a Canadian film and TV company SK Films and supported by the National Science Foundation. The sponsors are Mexico’s federal Ministry of Tourism, the Mexico Tourism Board, the state of Michoacan and the state of Mexico, governmental and international environmental institutions.

Travel Weekly, http://www.travelweekly.com

Photo: a monarch butterfly swarm in Mexico, farflungphotos, http://flickrfanstan.wordpress.com

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