Wild Life
Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's portrait of conservationists Doug and Kris Tompkins, whose decades of land protection in Patagonia became one of the largest private-to-public land donations in history.
From Oscar-winning filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, Wild Life follows conservationist Kris Tompkins on an epic, decades-spanning love story as wild as the landscapes she dedicated her life to protecting. After falling in love in mid-life, Kris and the outdoorsman and entrepreneur Doug Tompkins left behind the world of the massively successful outdoor brands they'd helped pioneer — Patagonia, The North Face, and Esprit — and turned their attention to a visionary effort to create National Parks throughout Chile and Argentina. (Source: NatGeo Documentary Films)
- Year
- 2023
- Hunter's role
- Camera Team
- Director
- Chai Vasarhelyi / Little Monster Films
- Type
- Feature Doc
- Runtime
- 93 minutes
- Countries
- Argentina (Patagonia), Chile (Patagonia)
Collaborators
- Gustavo Santaolalla
- Chai Vasarhelyi — Co-founder, Little Monster Films
- Clair Popkin — Cinematographer.
Awards
PREMIERE: Telluride Film Festival — September 2022 (Surprise Screening / World Premiere) NO MAJOR WINS CONFIRMED SELECTIONS: • Telluride Film Festival — September 2022 (surprise screening) • SXSW Film Festival — March 2023 • DOC NYC — 2023 (online screening) RECOGNITION: • 91% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes • Directors Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin are Oscar winners (Free Solo)
Festivals
Telluride Film Festival — September 2022 (surprise screening) • SXSW — March 2023 • Theatrical release April 14, 2023 (Picturehouse) • NatGeo Channel broadcast May 25, 2023 • Disney+ streaming May 26, 2023
Real-world impact
Doug and Kris Tompkins effected the largest private land donation in history, preserving approximately 14.8 million acres and creating or expanding 15 national parks across Chile and Argentina through Tompkins Conservation. The film chronicles how personal wealth from Patagonia, The North Face, and Esprit was redirected into a decades-long conservation mission that includes rewilding endangered species and fostering nature-based tourism as an economic engine for local communities. National Geographic's global release on Disney+ brought this model of radical philanthropy to millions of viewers worldwide.