The call of the wild

By Sulani Balasooriya

Asafari jeep speeding along the Dambulla-Minneriya road may not be the best place for an interview. But I had little choice, for when I met the dynamic French wildlife film producer, he was on his daily journey into the wilderness. Jean Yves Collet is in Sri Lanka to film an extremely interesting subject - the elephant.

How did all this start? I ask Jean-Yves.

"Well it was during my first year in vet school (my look of total disbelief makes him laugh). No, really, I'm a qualified vet. During my first year I knew that this was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to treat wild animals.

"This was further brought home to me when I went to Indonesia to work on my PhD thesis, which was on diseases of the orang-utans in Borneo. So after finishing my veterinary studies (which made my parents very happy!) I went to Gabon in Central Africa for three years to study the pathology of gorillas and chimpanzees," he says.

Jean-Yves' first assignment was as assistant producer and scientific consultant of the award-winning wildlife feature film "Monkey Folk" produced by Gerard Vienne.

Having started on this long journey 15 years ago, Jean-Yves now has more than 60 wildlife documentaries to his credit, along with numerous national and international awards. Working as an Executive Producer at the beginning, his restless nature soon took over.

"I was sending crews all over the world, while I myself was stuck behind a desk in Paris. So I finally became a freelancer and I'm happy doing what I love."

And this is what has brought Jean-Yves and his crew of three to Sri Lanka. The idea for a documentary on elephants began when he met Taya Diaz, the environmentalist and secretary of the Polonnaruwa Swabadaham Sangamaya. This led to negotiations with the French TV channel Canal Plus.

Finally in January this year, the crew was able to come to Sri Lanka for an initial survey.

"I'm happy to do this project because it talks of the man-elephant relationship at every level. From the most basic where villagers are trying to save their crops from wild elephants to the highest, to the elephants used in the Kandy Perahera.

"The documentary is about different aspects of these relationships. For example, we try to explain scientifically, the relationship between man and wild elephants. How is a killer made? The sad story is that they are not natural killers. They have been pushed further south and when they're shot at, constantly by the farmers, the bullet wounds make them into killers," he says.

"But what is also fascinating is that the farmers do not hate elephants. I think this is due to their Buddhist faith. They know that nature must be respected. We also talk of the traditional aspect of this relationship. From the "kraal" (the capture of elephants) to the Kandy Perahera, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful pageants in the world."

"But," he adds, "we also want to talk of a rather negative point, not for anything else, but to show that there's potential for a solution. This is about the safari elephants in Habarana. These elephants are worked far more than they can endure. The platform is not adapted to the elephant and far too many people are put on it. This is not the fault of the owners, but those who hire them."

When filming wildlife there can be potential dangers. Be it being bitten by snakes or being charged by gorillas or rhinos, the French crew has had its own share of hair-raising experiences. But there's one which Jean-Yves is not likely to forget in a hurry.

"Usually when I'm charged at, in the forest, I know what to do. I can communicate with the animals and I know what their behaviour is likely to be. But when we were filming in Pinnawala, something happened which disturbed the elephants. We were not the cause, but we were the only outsiders.

"The elephants charged us and I didn't know how they would behave. You don't know how tame elephants react or what they think. The mahouts thought we wanted to film them, so they didn't try to restrain them at the beginning. This is one instance in my life when I was terrified," he says.

"But all in all everything has been fine. We've been here for the past three months and the filming has gone on really well. Chandra Wickramasinghe of Connaissance de Ceylan has taken up the sponsorship of the film, which will be in both Sinhala and English. SriLankan Airlines also wants to telecast the film on their flights," says Jean-Yves.

I'm intrigued by the relaxed atmosphere in the jeep. Everyone is joking and laughing, most of all Axel, the Assistant Producer. I voice my thoughts to Jean-Yves.

"This is because all of us have been working together for at least six or seven years. There's Christophe Lemire, who is a specialised wildlife cameraman, Christian Holl who is a professional musician and sound engineer and my Assistant Producer, Axel Ferrault, who will go on as a freelance producer at the end of this project.

"We're also accompanied by Christophe's wife Martine who's the photographer. When you do wildlife films you are in extremely difficult and remote places. So if you don't love and enjoy what you do you really can't survive. Compatibility is very important. This team, I'm happy to say is really great. Everyone looks out for each other."

I have also found out quite accidentally, the secret to the calm and relaxed nature of this multi-talented producer, who is incidentally also a musician. "I have been meditating for the past 10 years," he reveals.

"It's interesting the way it started. I was studying gorillas in Gabon, writing down what they were doing, when I suddenly realised that I didn't or wouldn't know what they were thinking. This led me to read about 30 books on yoga and meditation. I started with Vipassana and went on to trying different methods.

" I actually wanted to become a monk, but two months later I met the lady who would become my wife. So fate didn't allow me to become a monk in this life, but maybe I was one in my previous incarnation," he says.

Jean-Yves Collet has several ideas in the pipeline, for the future. Not necessarily wildlife. "I may do a totally different series, focusing on spiritual people in the world. I have another idea to do a feature on the different religions in France.

"But at the moment religion is a sensitive subject over there. So I will wait a while. Compared to religion, wildlife is very peaceful," he laughs.

After their filming in Sri Lanka the crew will proceed to Gabon for the next 12 months, filming the intricate and fascinating world of insects. It's a life of endurance. But the joy of discovery and creation makes it worthwhile.

"Actually, in all probability it's the roads that can kill you," he yells, as our jeep narrowly misses running headlong into a private bus. I hang on to dear life and the tape recorder, hoping I'll survive long enough to get this story in. What with wild elephants and even wilder drivers!

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