Short film on frogs set for online release

MANGALURU: Filmmakers Dheeraj Aithal and Pradeep Hegde are all set for the online release of their film The Last Hop(e), on frog conservation. A crowdfunded 20-minute film will be released on YouTube, IGTV, and Facebook on Saturday.


Providing details about the film, Pradeep Hegde said, the film speaks about the species Euphlyctis karaavali, discovered through a citizen science engagement programme in 2016. The frog was first encountered by C R Naik, Deputy Range Forest Officer,

Dandeli Anshi Tiger Reserve

. “We want to bring out to the world interesting stories behind the discovery and the people who found them.”
The film also speaks about Bullfrogs as a delicacy. Over the years, because of the efforts of conservationists as well as forest officials, there is a reduction in poaching, but the threat continues to exist, said Hegde. As part of an awareness drive, they plan to reach out to all schools in Karnataka and Goa.

The film was screened at film festivals including NatureinFocus, Film Southasia (FSA) in Nepal, and the Lift-Off Film Festival last year. Dheeraj Aithal is a wildlife cameraman and filmmaker, passionate about involving the latest technology, from drones to camera traps in wildlife filming. He worked at

Felis Creations

as a field assistant and cameraman to filmmaker

Sandesh Kadur

and worked for various international TV broadcasters in locations ranging from Ladakh to Agumbe.

Pradeep Hegde from Sirsi completed his BSc from Christ University. Passionate about wildlife photography, he started documenting life around him with researcher Satyachandra Sagar and in three years, they had collected so much data that the university came forward to publish the wildlife album called ‘Guhanagari’ – a book on urban wildlife of Bengaluru. Hegde too joined Sandesh Kadur where he met Dheeraj and both decided to go ahead with this project. Pradeep has worked as a cameraman for ‘Wild Karnataka’- first-ever blue-chip natural history film produced by Indian filmmakers and narrated by David Attenborough. He filmed an episode on Indian Wildlife for Animal Planet and NatGeo India, that was telecast early this year.

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