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(Woodlands, TX, 2005, 5 minutes)
Produced, directed, filmed, and edited by Mike Wham
The rainforests of Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica are home to such rare and wonderful animals as poison dart frogs, coatimundis, basilisk lizards, capuchin monkeys, and the critically-endangered mono titi (squirrel monkey). The area is rapidly becoming one of the most popular and exclusive vacation destinations in Central America, and tourism-related development has put the mono titi at risk.
Perilous Progress documents the complexity of the situation in Manuel Antonio: developers are over-promoting the area as a wildlife haven in order to attract more tourists, but by doing so, they are destroying the very reason the tourists wish to visit. The film encourages those in the tourist industry to realize that their fate is tied to that of the mono titi and that they need to protect the habitat of the mono titi in order to protect their own businesses.
Perilous Progress is the 2006 “youth over 13” winner at the International Wildlife Film Festival. Michael will serve as a panelist at the festival for the session TV Savvy Kids—Programming for the Next Generation.
Filmmaker Bio
Michael Wham is a 16-year-old home-schooled student. He made his first wildlife
documentary—about Carolina chickadee nestlings—at the age of six. In 2005,
his film Penguins of Antarctica took first place in the “best youth group
over age 12” category at the International
Wildlife Film Festival.
It was also a selection of the traveling Kids First Film Festival,
and was screened along with March of the Penguins as part of the Penguin
Film Festival at the New York Hall of Science.
In 2005, Michael was a finalist in the American Museum of Natural History’s Young Naturalist Contest for his paper, “Variance in Gentoo Penguin Calls.” Additionally, his films have won awards or been screened at the following film festivals: Danville International Children’s Film Festival (2 films nominated for best teen documentary, 2006); Rebel Planet Hollywood Film Festival (best youth film, 2006); Columbus International Film Festival (Chris Award—honorable mention, 2005); Culture Shapers (honorable mention 2005); Houston Young Filmmakers (1st place documentary 2004, 2005); Kingwood Student Film Festival (1st place documentary, 2006); Woodlands Young Moviemakers (1st place high school, 2005); Zion Film Festival; Southern Fried Film Festival; Delray Beach Film Festival; Phoenix Film Festival; Santa Cruz Film Festival; Gulf Coast Film Festival; and Alameda Film Festival.
Michael is a PADI-certified underwater photographer. Earlier this year, he proudly received a grant from the Save our Seas Foundation to make a documentary about whale sharks.