University of Louisville French Film Festival
The Velvet Queen (La panthère des neiges)
Directed by Marie Amiguet and Vincent Munier
$12 / $8 Speed members
This documentary is a quiet reflection on patience, the unpredictability of nature, and the hunt for the perfect opportunity to capture a striking photograph.
High up on the Tibetan plateau, amongst the unexplored and inaccessible valleys lies on of the last sanctuaries of the wild world, where rare and undiscovered fauna lives. Vincent Munier, one of the world’s most renowned wildlife photographers takes the adventurer and novelist writer Sylvain Tesson (In the Forest of Siberia) on the quest to document the exceptionally elusive snow leopard.
Munier introduces Tesson the subtle art of waiting from a blind spot, tracking animals, and finding the patience to catch sight of the beasts. Through their journey in the Tibetan peaks, inhabited by invisible presences, the two men ponder humankind’s place amongst the magnificent creatures and glorious landscapes they encounter along the way. A selection of the Cannes Film Festival. 2021, France, DCP, in French with English subtitles, 92 minutes. Recommended for 12+.