JANE'S JOURNEY the Portrait of Jane Goodall Opens September in NY and LA

It would be hard to name anyone who has had more of an impact in the realm of animal research and wildlife conservation than Dr. Jane Goodall, Dame of the British Empire, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and UN Messenger of Peace. Dr. Goodall's pioneering study of wild chimpanzee behavior in Africa is legendary and continues today, more than 50 years later, under the auspices of her Institute.

In Jane's Journey, we travel with Dr. Goodall across several continents, from her childhood home in England to Gombe National Park in Tanzania where she began her groundbreaking research, and where she still returns every year to visit the chimpanzees who made her famous.

Jane's Journey is a portrait of the private person behind the world-famous icon. It is the story of an exceptional woman, possibly one of the most fascinating women of our time. With its unhurried pace and unobtrusive camera, this documentary shows the charismatic and eloquent Dr. Goodall as she has never been seen before. Intimate conversations with Dr. Goodall alternate with spectacular footage of her with her beloved chimpanzees, plus revealing interviews with her son, her colleagues and even Hollywood celebrities.

Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Goodall, now 77, decided to give up her career as a primatologist, as well as her private life, to devote her time and energy to saving our endangered planet. Since then, she's been spending an average of 300 days a year traveling around the globe giving lectures, writing books and working through the Institute bearing her name.

Founded in 1977, the Jane Goodall Institute continues Dr. Goodall's landmark research-research that transformed scientific perceptions of the relationship between humans and animals. Today, the Institute is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. It also is widely recognized for establishing innovative community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa, and Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots, the Institute's global environmental and humanitarian youth program, which has groups in more than 120 countries.

Director/writer Lorenz Knauer has worked in documentary film and television for more than 30 years. In 1989, he made Guns: A Day in the Death of America, which premiered on HBO in the America Undercover series. He went on to produce and direct several films for the renowned 37°C documentary series on German national television (ZDF), including Miss Baby or the Drama of the Perfect Child, awarded Best Documentary at the Charleston International Film and Video Festival and honorable mention at the Columbus International Film Festival; and Forbidden Calling: Catholic Women Priests in America, which won the Silver Award at Worldfest Flagstaff and the Bronze Award at Worldfest Houston. Knauer's feature-length portrait The River Isar was one of the highest-rated docs on Bavarian Television and won a Silver Chris Award in 2006 at the Columbus International Film Festival, a Silver Plaque at the Chicago International Television Awards 2007, and a Platinum REMI Award at Worldfest 2007 in Houston. In 2007, Knauer produced and directed a two-part documentary for Bavarian Television, The Challenge of Change: In the Melting Heart of The Alps, dealing with the effects of climate change and melting glaciers on the population in the central Alps. Work on Jane's Journey began in 2005, and the world premiere was at the Munich Film Festival in June 2010. Jane's Journey has been invited to festivals around the world and was honored with the so-called "Green Oscar" - the "InternationAl Green Film Award" - by the Cinema for Peace Foundation at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2011. www.lorenzknauer.com

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