Wolf Land, made by producer-director Sarah Hoffman in northeastern Washington near Colville, has two human protagonists: range rider Daniel Curry and fourth-generation rancher Jerry Francis. Both defy the norm. Curry, a former animal care specialist at a wolf sanctuary in Tenino, values them as an important part of a healthy ecosystem. Francis, whose property borders a wilderness area with three known wolf packs, accepts the possibility that they can co-exist, safely, with his cattle.
Working with these subjects over a two-year period with multiple trips to the area, Hoffman tells a story of trust. Both men have distinct points of view. Both embrace the beauty (and sometimes harsh reality) of Mother Nature. Both love animals–cattle, horses, dogs, goats–and communicate with them. Both see themselves as guardians of a legacy.
Curry, depicted here as part-cowboy, part conservationist, hopes to persuade the ranching community and state agencies that wolves can thrive in their natural habitat without being subjected to lethal means of control. “My goal,” he says, “is to prevent that wolf from losing its life.” To that end, he founded the first non-lethal wildlife-conflict mitigation service, Guarding the Interests of Predators and Humans (GRIPH), named after his beloved first horse.
Meanwhile, Francis has both a livelihood and a family history and commitment to nurture. He lives with the daily concern of predatory wolves, but also appreciates their own history–even their nobility. He, too, would like to mitigate the stigma associated with them, if possible.
Wolf Land does not portray high drama. (It comes close in one scene, as Curry tracks a gray wolf on a rural road.) It introduces empathetic characters who communicate with each other, respect each other, and come to trust each other over time. The movie foregoes narration and voiceover interviews, instead allowing the land and the principals to speak for themselves.
Hoffman, who works as a senior video producer at Cascade PBS in Seattle, first profiled Curry six years ago, while producing an environmental series for local television. Wolf Land offers an expanded view of his work as an advocate, which takes him as far afield as Colorado for a presentation before state government there. By making the Curry-Francis working relationship the centerpiece of her film, Hoffman has crafted a quietly compelling narrative, aided by a low-key sound design.
She and cinematographer Bryce Adolphson have also made creative visual choices. The camera captures the vistas of the region, ranchland and forest alike. And in permitting the story to play out in a measured way, we often see Curry and Francis in tight close-up shots, allowing us to better appreciate how they think and how they live.
Wolf Land, which had its successful world premiere last spring at the Seattle International Film Festival, has a modest running time of 72 minutes. It might have addressed more fully the tactics employed by Curry to keep both wolves and cattle safe, yet it still imparts a much greater insight into how people and creatures can actually live together in harmony. As Daniel Curry suggests, “Our goal is to move beyond the buzz word ‘co-existence.’ I envision a world where animals and people can ‘co-thrive.’”
You can watch Wolf Land on NWPB - TV Saturday October 4 at 8pm on KTNW and KWSU.
