AWF's Mountain Gorilla Conservation Efforts Featured in Award-Winning Documentary

LOS ANGELES, CA--Gorillas--98.6% Human won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Short at the 2009 Annual Maui Film Festival. explore, a multimedia organization that documents leaders around the world who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes, showcased six short films at the Maui Film Festival. Following on the heels of explore's Guardians of the Sea win in 2008, this is the first time any filmmaker has won two years in a row.

Approximately 20,000 people attended this year's Maui Film Festival at Wailea and voted on their favorite films. The scenic views of Maui served as a backdrop to some of the best American independent films and world cinema. The Festival also featured cultural events, tributes and filmmaker panels.

Gorillas--98.6% Human directed by Charles Annenberg Weingarten, covers a trip to Rwanda where explore had the opportunity to visit four families of wild mountain gorillas, a species with only an estimated 700 remaining members. Their guide, Craig Sholley, a Vice President of the African Wildlife Foundation, has been intimately involved in the preservation of African wildlife for more than 30 years. The team's thrilling interaction with these peaceful animals--who share 98.6% of their genetic make up with humans--is a startling reminder of their own humanity. With the support of the Annenberg Foundation, explore has made funding possible to the African Wildlife Foundation. To see this award winning film, click here.

Five additional explore films featured at this year's Maui Film Festival and had record attendance at their screenings, including Wild Dolphin Project, India's Song, The Arctic: Change at the Top of the World, No Child Is Born a Terrorist and Guardians of the Sea.

explore features a wide range of topics -- from animal rights, health and human services and poverty to the environment, education and spirituality. Both educational and inspirational, explore creates a portal into the soul of humanity by championing the selfless acts of others. Individuals and organizations featured in many explore films receive explore funding in the form of Annenberg Foundation grants. To date, over $15 million has been awarded to over 100 non-profit organizations worldwide.

Never stop learning. Come explore.

Media Inquiries Contact:

Jennifer Gross

Evolutionary Media Group

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About 600 people attended Conservation Training Week, the fifth such gathering organized by The Nature Conservancy.

"I discovered that some of the issues we face in getting others involved in conservation are very similar," Chadri says. "It was really a two-way learning experience."