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New Orleans native Jon Batiste narrates stunning nature documentary coming to theaters in November
As the opening scene of the nature documentary “American Amazon” unfolds, a pirogue enters the frame on Lake Maurepas. Then the narration begins. “A secret wilderness is hiding,” the voice-over said. You recognize that voice. It’s the guy on the pirogue playing his melodica — Jon Batiste, the eight-time Grammy, Academy and Emmy award-winning singer, musician, composer and native New Orleanian. Apart from narrating this sweeping documentary about the South’s vast array of wetlands and wildlife, Batiste also serves as an executive producer on the IMAX production from Montana-based Grizzly Creek Films, in conjunction with WNET’S “Nature” series, which airs on PBS. Beginning in November, MacGillivray Freeman Films (“Everest”) will distribute the tribute to the scenic wonders, rarely seen wildlife and biodiverse regions of a southern ecosystem, which took filmmakers from Louisiana to Alabama, Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas. Eric Bendick is the writer, director and co-producer, based in Montana but from Florida originally. He said his team’s discovery of the region came about quite serendipitously. “We were working on our previous film, ‘Path of the Panther,’ shooting in Florida, when we began to look into the natural history of the southeast,” explained Bendick. “In combination with one of our...
