Flight For Survival DVD 

An award winning film by Scott Mason and Martin Cray 

WINNER: Award for Best Human Adventure Film: Coupe Icare 29th International Free Flight Film Festival 

WINNER: Award for Conservation message: 34th International Missoula Wildlifew Film Festival 

£1 from the sale of every DVD will go towards the development of the Pokhara Vulture Safe Zone project. For more information about the project see Pokhara Vulture Safe Zone

The long awaited much anticipated new "Parahawking" movie Flight For Survival DVD is now out. It was released on the 3rd September 2011 to coincide with The International Vulture Awareness Day global events designed to raise awareness and funds for vulture conservation projects worldwide. 

The film is essentially about the decline of Asia's vultures and how Parahawking is contributing to halt the decline by promoting awareness, education and funds. It also follows us as we're faced some political problems and we struggle to rehabilitate a wild Steppe Eagle. It's an emotional journey of trials and tribulations but above all an honest account of our life in Nepal whilst we strive to find ways to promote Vulture conservation. 

The film which was written, produced and directed by ourselves (Scott Mason, Martin Cray and Andi Campbell-Waite) has taken the best part of two years to put together. It has already received an award for it's conservation message at the Missoulla Wildlife Film Festival and has been shown on French TV with upcoming viewings in China, Scandinavia and Canada. More festivals with hopefully more awards to follow. 

Flight For Survival DVD - Synopsis

Asian Vultures are dying out at an alarming rate. In the last decade, 99.9% of the population has disappeared making them more endangered than the Polar Bear - but it's the Vulture's unlovable reputation that's kept their plight out of the public eye. 

Now, one man has made it his life's mission to bring the Vulture's imminent extinction to the world's attention. We follow Scott’s journey through a series of trials and tribulations as he battles the elements in the Himalayan mountains to bring his conservation message to the world. 

By combining conservation, adventure sport and the ancient art of falconry, Scott Mason, is determined to halt the rapid decline of a much misunderstood species.

Scott Mason realised that to compete for publicity in a world where sensation is king he needed to do something very different. He hit upon the idea of combining his lifelong love of Falconry with the extreme sport of Paragliding and thus invented Parahawking - flying with his rescued and rehabilitated Egyptian Vultures, interacting with the birds in their own environment.

Flight for Survival documents Scott's struggle to raise awareness of the Vulture's plight by undertaking his greatest challenge to date - a 10,000ft climb in the Himalayan Mountains to attempt the highest, longest, most challenging parahawking flight ever.

• Length: 52 min
• Language: English
• Format: PAL - All regions

Flight For Survival DVD - Trailer

The Film

Scott says 

It's been 10 years since we started Parahawking in Nepal, a lot has changed since those early days with Sapana and Shidoko. We've come a long way and achieved many things but really we're just scratching the surface. To say that it's been hard work would be an understatement, however it has been the most rewarding 10 years of my life so far. There is no worse struggle than one that never begins. 

Following the success of the first Parahawking film way back in 2002, titled "Parahawking" it was always my intention to follow it up with an up to date account of where we are, what we're doing etc. I wanted to make a showcase of how great it was to share the sky with a trained bird of prey. I wanted to further spread the message of conservation by providing a greater understanding and appreciation of raptors through this unique perspective. 

We are doing some amazing things with the birds that we fly with, we live in one of the most breathtaking countries, surrounded by beauty, culture and stunning landscapes. I've worked hard to get here, I want to show it all off! But more so, I want the world to stand up and take notice, Asia's vultures are dying out in their millions and are dangerously close to extinction, potentially triggering an ecologically disastrous chain of events across the Indian subcontinent. Kevin and Bob, our two Egyptian vulture are becoming rising stars and the perfect ambassadors to champion the plight of their wild cousins. 

Martin says

Ever since I started flying I’ve been trying to capture the sensation you get when you are high above the ground.  I’ve tried most forms of flying and nothing really gives you that sensation of being in a 3 dimensional space like paragliding and hang gliding. I agree with the author of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach that it really is as close to being a bird as a human can get. 

Paragliders provide a unique filming platform; the fact that you are suspended 20ft below the canopy means that the lines act like a giant pendulum. You might sway around a bit but you don’t have any hard bumps, so in a way it’s a giant steadicam. Because you don’t have a motor you don’t have any sound issues and you can fly very, very, slowly. You tend to be moved around in the air in the same way that the birds are, so it’s normal to fly very close and in most instances wild birds tend not to be bothered by your proximity. 

I think paragliding is the best way to film a bird in flight if you want to see where they are as well as what they are doing. Modern gimble mounts on helicopters allow you to get extremely steady long shots but like all long shots they tend to separate the subject from the background. That’s fine if you’re trying to film behaviour where the background is of no importance. But if you are trying to establish where the bird is you can’t beat the ‘up close and personal’ effect of being right next to the bird with a wide angle lens, you’ll feel like you’re flying with the bird.