<
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jun/12/ellis-park-warren-ellis-sumatra-animal-sanctuary-indonesia-documentary-film>
"When the pandemic forced musicians all over the world to cancel tours, Warren
Ellis decided to take his career in a new direction. From the bounds of his
home he co-founded an animal sanctuary in Sumatra, Indonesia.
In 2021 the Dirty Three virtuoso and Nick Cave collaborator was introduced to
the veteran animal rights activist Femke den Haas. Together they established
the centre for old, disabled and displaced animals who couldn’t be released
into the wild.
The sanctuary – Ellis Park – now lends its name to a documentary by the
True
History of the Kelly Gang film-maker Justin Kurzel: a stirring portrait of the
park’s inhabitants and dedicated caretakers.
Immortalising Ellis’s poignant first visit to the park in 2023, the documentary
traverses the lush vegetation of Sumatra and ventures to Ellis’s home town,
Ballarat, and his studio in Paris, offering a glimpse into the life of a
famously private Australian musician.
“I was very concerned at one point when we had half filmed it, and tried to get
it stopped,” he says.
Kurzel first heard about sanctuary during a catchup with Ellis at the 2021
Cannes film festival. “Justin said to me, ‘I’m curious why you did it and I
think the answer’s back where you were born,’” Ellis says."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
