Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Pocahontas County High School 1986 graduate Julia Huffman, daughter of Beth Little, of Hillsboro will present her documentary, “Medicine of the Wolf” at the Lewis Theatre, in Lewisburg, Thursday, May 26, at 7 p.m.
Fueled by her concern with the gray wolf population and the mammals removal from the endangered species list, Huffman felt compelled to make a film to show how integral gray wolves are.
In states like Michigan, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Minnesota, where the gray wolf population increased, the state legislatures were proposing wolf hunts where the population would, yet again, decrease in to endangered numbers.
In an interview with The Pocahontas Times in 2014, Huffman explained how heartbroken and angry she was with the proposed wolf hunts.
“Like many people, I didn’t really understand how this could happen,” she said. “Originally, there supposedly was some scientific evidence about why we needed to have a wolf hunt. After looking into it further, I’ve been able to assess that there is no science to back it up – absolutely none. In my mind and most people’s minds, it was politically motivated.”
A recent press release reads: “In this beautiful and important documentary, film maker Huffman travels to Minnesota and into wolf country to pursue the deep intrinsic value of perhaps the most unjustly maligned animal on the face of the planet. “Medicine of the Wolf” centers on the remarkable, world-renowned environmentalist and National Geographic photographer Jim Brandenburg, who has photographed, studied and been on the ground with wolves for 45 years—longer than anyone in history. As our guide, Brandenburg enables us to see the world of the wolf as we have never seen it before. The film also has a crucial message for us: The gray wolf must be preserved on the endangered species list.”
Huffman said Bradenburg helped her tell the true story about the lives of wolves and dispel the fairy tale image of “The Big Bad Wolf.”
“Everybody said to me, ‘if you’re going to do a story on wolves, you’ve got to talk to Jim Brandenburg’” she said in 2014. “Jim Brandenburg is Minnesota’s national treasure. He’s dedicated most of his life to telling the real story about wolves. The real story about wolves is that wolves are not the big, bad, Red Riding Hood evil creature. They don’t want to be around people. Wolves are extremely afraid of people. When a wolf is trapped, a wolf doesn’t try to attack you – a wolf cowers.”
“Medicine of the Wolf” is Huffman’s first feature length documentary. The documentary, which she wrote, directed and produced, won the first place Animal Content in Entertainment Award from the Humane Society of the United States. The film was predominantly funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign, with people from all over the world donating to see the vision come to fruition.
The film has been praised and endorsed by Dr, Jane Goodall, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash, Michael Stipe, Jim and Jamie Dutcher from Living with Wolves, to name a few.
“Medicine of the Wolf” won the Grand Jury Award at the AZ INT film festival, the Audience Choice Award at Minneapolis INT Film and the Audience Pick at the G2 Green Earth film festival in Venice, California. “Medicine of the Wolf” also made it to the top ratings on the Internet placing #9 on the iTunes Documentary charts and so far has been distributed in the US, Canada and Germany.
Huffman will be at the screening at the Lewis Theatre May 26 to hold a question and answer session with the audience. Admittance is $10 per person. The Lewis Theatre is located on North Court Street in Lewisburg.