Project Detail

The Serengeti Rules

Synopsis

Beginning in the 1960s, a small band of young scientists headed out into the wilderness, driven by an insatiable curiosity about how nature works. Immersed in some of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth—from the majestic Serengeti to the Amazon jungle; from the Arctic Ocean to Pacific tide pools - they discovered a single set of rules that govern all life.
Now in the twilight of their eminent careers, these five unsung heroes of modern ecology share the stories of their adventures, reveal how their pioneering work flipped our view of nature on its head, and give us a chance to reimagine the world as it could and should be.
Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2018 - Spotlight Documentary - World premiere

Details

Year
2018
Type of project
Features
Running time
84 mins
Director
Nicolas Brown
Producer
David Allen; Story Producer: Catherine Watling; Natural History Producer: Joe Loncraine
Executive Producer
David Guy Elisco, John Battsek, Dennis WC Liu, Andrew Ruhemann
Editor
Andy R. Worboys
Screenwriter
Nicolas Brown
Director of Photography
Tim Cragg
Composer
Anne Nikitin
Principal cast
Sean B. Carroll, Tony Sinclair, Mary Power, John Terborgh, Jim Estes

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

An HHMI Tangled Bank Studios (US), Passion Planet (UK) production with support of Simons Science Sandbox

Passion Planet

c/o Passion Pictures
County House
33-34 Rathbone Place
London
W1T 1JN

Sales Company

Submarine Entertainment

197 Grand Street, Suite 6W
New York
NY 10013
USA

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean

Director: Barnaby Thompson

Year: 2026

An in-depth study of David Lean, the man and his films. David Lean was one of the greatest filmmakers. He redefined what films could be, but his singular vision and tenacious determination to film the impossible earned him a reputation as an obsessive maverick. He was a master of his craft, capable of creating love and beauty on screen, but whose personal life was often troubled, uprooted, and painful. Featuring interviews with contemporary filmmakers including Wes Anderson, Paul Greengrass, Alfonso Cuarón, Celine Song, Brady Corbet, Francis Ford Coppola, Denis Villeneuve, Nia DaCosta, and Joe Wright. Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2026 - Cannes Classics - World premiere

TCB - The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing TCB - The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing

Director: Monica Henriquez, Louis J. Massiah

Year: 2025

Structured as a series of classes in cultural organising, this film reconstructs the life of a woman whose literary works and film collaborations became a catalysing force in 20th century political movements. Toni Morrison, Nikky Finney and filmmaker Haile Gerima are among those who testify to Bambara's humour, fierce commitment to collective action and gift for galvanising artists into community work. Official Selection DOC NYC 2025 - World premiere Official SelectionTrue/False Film Festival 2026 Official Selection Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival 2026 Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2026 - European premiere

Life Support Life Support

Director: Daniele Rugo

Year: 2026

A group of international doctors breach the blockade of Gaza. What they find is the calculated dismantling of life itself. Official Selection Sheffield DocFest 2026 - World premiere