Sesel Sa! January - March 2015 Jan - March 2015 | Page 61

Did you know?
That there have
been international
films shot in
Seychelles?
The beautiful, oneof-a-kind scenery
of the Seychelles
has not escaped
the entertainment
industry. From the
early 80s the love
between film and
Seychelles was
spawned and has
remained true.

Impressionen unter Wasser
This is a documentary that was filmed in 2002,
directed by Leni Reifenstahl. It is a marine based
film which was shot in a number of islands
including the Maldives and Cocos Islands. Its
main aim was to display the beauty of the world
from an underwater perspective and to possibly
compel people to take care of the world’s
oceans.
Blue Island
A 1982 Italian film, directed by Luigi Russo and
its Italian title is ‘Due gocce d’acqua salata.’ The
movie follows 2 passengers, Billy and Bonnie,
whose paths cross after an airplane crash.
The two develop a relationship while on an
inflatable life raft, as the only survivors of the
crash. They manage to get to a tropical island

and soon discover that they
are not the only ones there.
The film stars Mario Pedone,
Fabio Meyer and Sabrina
Siani. It was written by
Dardano Sacchetti and
Enzo Doria. Blue Island was
inspired by the Blue Lagoon
and Paradise, both successful
movies shot before it.
Tarzan the Ape Man
The film is about a hunter
in Africa who is in search of
the mythical white ape. After
his wife dies, he is joined on
his quest by his daughter only to discover that the white ape
is actually a white man (Tarzan) who was raised in the jungle
by apes. The hunter is determined to capture the ape, but he
kidnaps his daughter. She is in turn kidnapped by natives who
want to force her into marriage, but Tarzan springs into action
and goes to her rescue.
The adventure flick was shot in 1981 and it was directed
by John Derek. John Philip Law, Richard Harris and Miles
O’Keeffe star in the film. The story line was adapted from the
book ‘Tarzan of the Apes’ which was written by Edgar Rice
Burroughs. The screen play was developed by Tom Rowe and
depicts the Jane Parker point of view. Original music for the
film was composed by Perry Botkin Junior.
“Unlike any other Tarzan you have ever seen,” was the tag line
used to market the film. Jock Mahoney was in charge of the
awe-striking stunts used in the film. An interesting fact is that
the original actor who was to take up the main role as Tarzan
quit in the early stages of production and was replaced by
Miles O’Keeffe.
Thunderbirds
The islands of Praslin and North became the iconic Tracy
island in the popular Thunderbirds. Thursday 6th March
2004 filming began on the islands and the film features such
sites as Anse Lazio, Anse Boudin, Zimbabwe hill, and even
the Vallée de Mai (after consent from the Seychelles Islands
Foundation). Universal Studios noted that the Vallée de
Mai, was perfect for the primitive forest scene since it had
untouched, thick and luscious vegetation while North Island
and other locations on Praslin provided the background of a
getaway paradise for other scenes.
Thunderbirds photo credit; download-full.orgwatch, Impressionen unter
Wasser photo credit; ecover.toCoverLeni_Riefenstahl-Impressionen,
Robinson Crosoe photo credit; filmneked.com, Tarzan The Ape Man photo
credit; themoviedb.org, http://paradise.travel/blogs/entry/seychelles/
revisiting-some-of-the-films-shot-at-the-seychelles

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