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Press Releases
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two announces new Arena: The Hunt For Moby-Dick and accompanying Whale Night on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Four
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Arena – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's flagship arts documentary strand – confronts our fascination with one of the most mysterious creatures of the ocean, the whale, in a new feature-length adventure documentary, The Hunt For Moby-Dick (µþµþ°äÌý°Õ·É´Ç), at the end of September.
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Filmed in England, America and the Azores over four years, the documentary follows acclaimed author Philip Hoare as he writes his new book and tackles man's complex relationship with the whale, bringing it into startling new focus through one book: Moby-Dick.
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Herman Melville's 19th century novel resounds with 21st century relevance. Hoare draws an eerie parallel between Captain Ahab's obsessive pursuit of the great White Whale on the high seas and today's "war on terror".
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In precariously tiny boats, a hundred years ago, whaling men braved the biggest animals on earth with no more than hand-held harpoons.
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Their furious battles were grim and without mercy. The prize catch was the mighty sperm whale.
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Today the whale is still witnessed with awe, no longer as a monster but as a magnificent, gentle giant.
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In an epic journey that takes him from his hometown of Southampton to the whaling ports of New Bedford and Nantucket and finally to the islands of the Azores – where whales were still hunted with traditional harpoons up to the Eighties – Hoare enters a world haunted by a bloody and violent past.
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He stands at the desk where Melville wrote his masterpiece and visits the last remaining whaleship, the Charles W Morgan, to see what conditions on board were really like.
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And out in the mile-deep waters of the Atlantic, he has his own extraordinary encounter with the legendary sperm whale itself.
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In Arena: The Hunt For Moby-Dick, Hoare takes us closer than ever before to the truth behind the story of the whale and the fear and awe it inspires.
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What does Moby-Dick have to tell us about our modern world?
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The Arena Series Editor is award-winning Anthony Wall. Arena: The Hunt For Moby-Dick has been directed by Adam Low and produced by Martin Rosenbaum of Lone Star Productions for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.
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Martin Rosenbaum says: "We've worked on this film for four years, and we are certain it will open our audience's eyes to the whale and Moby-Dick.
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"I think the result is an epic adventure to match Herman Melville's book – as well being as a salutary message for our own times."
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Arena: The Hunt For Moby-Dick has been commissioned by Roly Keating, Controller of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two.
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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Four will also be hosting a Whale Night including three short films from Arena, Portraits Of Whales and classic natural history documentaries on whales.
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Transmission is currently due at the end of September 2008. Ìý
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