The Shark Riddle WINS Best Children's Program of the Year, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival

October 7, 2011 - Jackson Hole, WY - The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival announced the winners for the 2011 Film Competition, and The Riddle Solvers: The Shark Riddle was named Best Children's Program of the Year, worldwide! Internationally renowned as the largest and most prestigious competition of the nature genre, this year’s Festival competition included 510 films from more than 30 countries entering — a record number of submissions competing for 22 special category awards. More than eighty judges from North America, Europe, Asia and Africa participated in the preliminary selections.

The 2011 award winners were selected by a distinguished panel in Jackson Hole preceding the five-day industry conference held in Grand Teton Park at the Jackson Lake Lodge October 3-7, and were announced at a Gala celebration on Thursday, October 6th. A complete list of winners is below.

"We have been working so hard to redefine children's nature programming, to create smart, funny and beautiful stories that both kids and adults will like," said co-director Laura Sams. "I really think this movie is one of the most unique and wonderful films about sharks ever made."

The Riddle Solvers: The Shark Riddle is a co-production between Sisbro Studios and The Save Our Seas Foundation. The second episode in The Riddle Solvers series, The Shark Riddle features high-definition footage of over 20 different shark species and incredible music including a Great White Shark Song and a Whale Shark Opera. Follow siblings Laura and Robert on an adventure through the pages of a magical journal to solve a mysterious riddle about shark teeth. Meet a raucous group of singing sea lions, experience the underwater game show Are You a Shark?, hear a shark lullaby and discover the powerful and magnificent world of sharks. The film competed against two other entries: My Pantanal, from the Panthera Foundation, and Turtle Vision, from nWave Pictures Distribution.

"We were fortunate to be able to show The Shark Riddle to an audience of school children during the week," said Robert Sams, co-director. "It was great to see them laughing and excited about sharks. They learned a lot too. After the screening, we asked them if they remembered what characteristics make a shark a shark . . . and they answered without hesitation."

Recognized as the premier event of its genre, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival is an unparalleled industry gathering. Over 650 international delegates participate in an exceptional slate of leading-edge equipment presentations, seminars and state-of-the-art screenings. Hosted in Grand Teton National Park Oct 3-7, they hone skills, explore emerging media technologies and market opportunities, network and exchange ideas, and honor notable achievements within the industry. The Festival’s international board members include: Animal Planet, Arete Media, BBC Natural History Unit, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Disneynature, Discovery Channel, FUJIFILM Optical Devices, Inc., Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Geographic Television & Film, The Nature Conservancy, and Nature for WNET New York Public Media, NHK Japanese Broadcasting, NHNZ, Ltd., nWAVE Productions Distribution, Off the Fence Productions, Panasonic Solutions, Principal Large Format, Sony Electronics, TERRA MATER Factual Studios, and UNIVERSUM/ORF Natural History Unit.

2011 Winners

Grand Teton Award (sponsored by Panasonic Solutions)
BROKEN TAIL
Crossing the Line Films, IFB, RTÉ, CBC, SWR, ZDF, ARTE, MEDIA, Nature for WNET New York Public Media and BBC

CONTENT CATEGORIES:
Best Animal Behavior Program (sponsored by NHK Japanese Broadcasting)
LIFE: REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
BBC Natural History Unit, Discovery Channel, SKAI Open University & BBC Worldwide

Best Conservation Program (sponsored by Denver Museum of Nature & Science)
BROKEN TAIL
Crossing the Line Films, IFB, RTÉ, CBC, SWR, ZDF, ARTE, MEDIA, Nature for WNET New York Public Media and BBC

Best People & Nature Program (sponsored by The Nature Conservancy)
HUMAN PLANET--RIVERS: FRIEND AND FOE
BBC Wales, BBC Natural History Unit, Discovery Channel and BBC Worldwide

Best Science & Nature Program (sponsored by Howard Hughes Medical Institute)
DECODING IMMORTALITY
December Films and Pemberton Films & Smithsonian Networks

Best Wildlife Habitat Program (sponsored by FootageBank HD)
RADIOACTIVE WOLVES
EPO Film for ORF/Universum, NDR and Nature for WNET New York Public Media

Best Earth Sciences Program (sponsored by Marco Polo)
SEA REX 3D: JOURNEY TO A PREHISTORIC WORLD
N3D Land Productions & Mantello Brothers Productions

Conservation Hero (sponsored by Disneynature)
ELSA: THE LIONESS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Brian Leith Productions, The Natural World, BBC & Nature for WNET New York Public Media

Best Children’s Program (sponsored by Teton Science Schools)
THE RIDDLE SOLVERS: THE SHARK RIDDLE
Sisbro Studios & The Save Our Seas Foundation

Best Limited Series (sponsored by Terra Mater Factual Studios)
HUMAN PLANET
BBC, Discovery Channel, France Televisions and BBC Worldwide

Best 3D Program (sponsored by GoPro)
FLYING MONSTERS 3D
National Geographic and Atlantic Entertainment for SKY 3D

Best Cultural Institution Media Installation (sponsored by North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences)
WHALES TO WINDMILLS: INVENTIONS INSPIRED BY THE SEA
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Best Fulldome Program (sponsored by Global Immersion)
LIFE: A COSMIC STORY
California Academy of Sciences

Best Hosted or Presenter-Led Program (sponsored by Animal Planet)
BROKEN TAIL
Crossing the Line Films, IFB, RTÉ, CBC, SWR, ZDF, ARTE, MEDIA, Nature for WNET New York Public Media and BBC

Marian Zunz Newcomer Award (sponsored by the Discovery Channel)
HELGOLAND: ISLAND IN THE STORM
Robert Morgenstern, Studio Hamburg DocLights Naturfilm

Best Short Program (sponsored by National Geographic)
FINNED
Mill Valley Film Group

Best Short Shorts Program (sponsored by Natural History New Zealand)
UN INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FORESTS/MENSCH WALD: INSPIRATION
Traffic Konzept + Film GmbH

Best Theatrical Program (sponsored by Off the Fence Productions)
THE LAST LIONS
Wildlife Films and National Geographic

Best Interactive/New Media Program (sponsored by ARKive)
ONE OCEAN INTERACTIVE www.oneoceanonline.org

CRAFT CATEGORIES:
Best Cinematography (sponsored by FujiFilm Optical Devices)
LIFE: CHALLENGES OF LIFE
BBC Natural History Unit, Discovery Channel, Open University, SKAI & BBC Worldwide
Rod Clarke, Kevin Flay, Alastair MacEwen, Peter Nearhos, Simon Werry, and David Wright

Best Editing (sponsored by Images of Nature, Tom Mangelsen)
THE LAST LIONS
Wildlife Films and National Geographic
Susan Scott & Candice Odgers, Editors

Best Original Music Score (sponsored by Sony Electronics)
THE LAST LIONS
Wildlife Films and National Geographic
Alex Wurman

Best Sound (sponsored by Dolby Laboratories)
SERENGETI
Studio Hamburg DocLights/NDR Naturfilm, Universum Film, & Intervista
Jörn Röver, Reinhard Radke, Sound Mix / Sound Design: Richard Borowski, Kai Storck, Carsten Richter

Best Writing (sponsored by ORF Universum)
MY LIFE AS A TURKEY
Passion Pictures, Nature for WNET New York Public Media & BBC
Joe Hutto & David Allen