Filmed by two young British documentary-makers, Matthew Aeberhard and Leander Ward, if follows the life cycle of a million crimson-winged flamingos on remote Lake Natron in northern Tanzania.

The mass gathering is one of nature's most spectacular spectacles and yet was one of the least-known and most extraordinary secrets of the animal kingdom. It required the film-makers, along with Matt's wife, Melanie Finn, who wrote the screenplay of The Crimson Wing, to spend a year and a half on the shores of the isolated 37-mile lake surrounded by mountains and volcanoes (which proved anything but dormant).

"More people have landed on the Moon than walked on that land," said Matt Aeberhard, talking from Edinburgh where the film is being premiered during the Edinburgh Film Festival.

"For me I would say it is a paradise, although the physical environment is a little demanding. It's dry and it's hot and salt is a problem. We would come back covered with salt and saturate ourselves in water. We would step out of the the shower and our shirt and shorts would literally be standing up."

The harsh environment is only one of the threats to the survival of the flamingos who also have to contend with various predators which gives the film its drama.

It also helps that flamingos are fascinating and photogenic creatures, according to Aeberhard. "They're colourful and dynamic and they inhabit and travel between these amazing habitats. They start out brown and ugly and gawky and drab before they get to be this beautiful pink."

After the worldwide success of March of the Penguins which it co-produced, Disney set up a new division to produce more nature fillms especially for the cinema. The Crimson Wing is the first production from Disneynature and will go on general release on September 25.

Said Jean-Francois Camilleri, executive vice president and general manager of Disneynature: "It is a beautiful film and there are things to learn. What I like also is that it takes place in the part of East Africa where the very first human beings stood up. So it has not only seen some of the very first known flamingos but it has big significance for the human species."

Music is a key element too. "I hope our film will seem as much a journey through the music and soundtrack as through the images," according to Leander Ward. "We wanted it to be contemporary and we wanted to work with composer Jason Swinscoe before the film had been shot."

The Crimson Wing soundtrack by the Cinematic Orchestra consists of some of the sounds recorded by Swinscoe at Lake Natron mixed with orchestral arrangements, vocals and some electronic music.

The Cinematic Orchestra will be performing a concert in London when the film opens but Sheffield Telegraph readers don't have to wait that long.

Showcomotion have 10 CDs of the soundtrack to give away. The first 10 to email info@showcomotion.org.uk with their name and address will be sent a CD.


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