The award-winning documentary feature HAZE, It’s Complicated… hopes to widen the conversation about peat haze pollution by bringing together a wide range of voices. This 70-minute film (along with its shorter 50-min. version Peat-Palm-Haze) presents scientific facts about the burning of the peatlands, oil palm farming, haze pollution and reforestation. The film also presents a variety of opinions and points of view from local and regional stakeholders, scientific researchers and local activists. It won BEST FEATURE at KLEFF 2018, the International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival, in Malaysia the country with the largest palm oil production in the world.
Peat forests throughout tropical Southeast Asia have been converted to farmland since the early 20th century. Burning was a common way to clear the land, but this burning of the peatlands created haze. This peat haze pollution reached critical levels between 2010-2015, and it posed significant challenges to human health and to regional economies.
Peatlands in Southeast Asia are distributed throughout several islands,
primarily Sumatra, Borneo and Papua New Guinea.
MIT Professor Charles Harvey presents scientific evidence about
the irreversible damage done to the peatlands.
The intensive farming of oil palm throughout tropical Southeast Asia requires land, and peat forests have been cleared often times with government support to make room for both industrial and small holder farming. The solution to the complex issue of haze pollution will not be a simple one.
Palm oil is a crop capable of very high yields and this fact
makes it an ubiquitous component of regional cuisine.
The Riau Province regional government is pursuing
multiple strategies for peat regeneration.
Peat haze pollution has been somewhat mitigated in recent years and the film presents some of these encouraging signs. But in spite of the positive progress a few of the critical long-term issues are yet to be fully addressed and solved.
The eerie beauty of dense haze hides the trees and houses
just over a hundred meters from the camera.
HAZE, It’s Complicated…
A documentary feature by Isaac Kerlow
Produced by the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS)
Total running time: 70 minutes, color (Director’s Cut)
Film Completed: January 2018
PEAT PALM HAZE
A documentary feature by Isaac Kerlow
Produced by the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS)
The 48-minute short version of the documentary
Total running time of 48m 40s, color
Completed: November 2018
Festival and Screening Schedule
HAZE, It’s Complicated… premiered at the 42nd Cleveland International Film Festival in April of 2018. The film won the BEST FEATURE award at the Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival in Malaysia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, and received an Award of Excellence at the IndiFest 2018 Film Awards. PEAT PALM HAZE [*] premiered at the Singapore Eco Film Festival in November of 2018.
October 2019
Indonesian Eco Film Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia [*]
September 2019
2019 Jackson Wild Summit (Conservation Long Form), Jackson Hole, WY [*]
July 2019
New Hope Film Festival, New Hope, Pennsylvania [*]
May 2019
New Haven International Film Festival, New Haven, Connecticut [*]
March 2019
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF), Washington D.C. [*]
Utah Film Festival and Awards, Vineyard, Utah
February 2019
Beloit International Film Festival, Beloit, Wisconsin
November 2018
Hong Kong Eco Film Festival, HKEFF 2018, Hong Kong [*]
Singapore Eco Film Festival, SGEFF 2018, Singapore [*]
October 2018
International Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival, KLEFF 2018, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (BEST FEATURE)
Innsbruck Nature Film Festival, Innsbruck, Austria
September 2018
Bali International Film Festival, Kuta, Indonesia
Imagine Science Films, Labocine EMPIRICAL IDEOLOGIES, films from the science new wave exploring activism, policy and politics around scientific and social issues
August 2018
San Antonio Film Festival, San Antonio, Texas
Regina International Film Festival & Awards, Saskatchewan, Canada
July 2018
Impact DOCS Awards, La Jolla, California, Award of Merit Special Mention: Documentary Feature
May 2018
International Nature Film Festival, Gödöllő, Hungary
Green Drinks at the Hive Lavender, Singapore
April 2018
Cleveland International Film Festival, Cleveland (World Premiere)
Newport Beach Film Festival, Newport, California
January 2018
IndiFest 2018 Film Awards, Documentary Feature Award of Excellence
Partial Production Credits
FEATURING (in order of appearance)
H. ARNEDI, Riau Farmer
ANG BOON BENG, Geneticist, Asian Agri
AZNAN, Palm Oil Freelance Worker
RIDHUAN, Street Vendor
SYAHRIAL, Fire Fighter, Masyarakat Peduli Api
CHARLES HARVEY, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ALEXANDER COBB, Researcher, CENSAM, SMART
HARIS GUNAWAN, Deputy Director R&D, Peatland Restoration Agency
M. JAMALUDDIN, Riau Farmer
RUDI SYAF, Activist, WARSI
MIKINORI KUWATA, Researcher, EOS
RUKAIYAH RAFIQ, Director, SETARA
BASTORI, Jambi Farmer
MUHAMMAD NUR, Restored Peatland Owner
RIZAL, Jambi Farmer
PAWITO SARING, Riau Farmer
SUHERMAN, Jambi Farmer
ERIK VELASCO, Researcher, CENSAM, SMART
KUDUNG, Orang Rimba
GUNAWAN, Orang Rimba
Written and Directed by ISAAC KERLOW
Camera: NELSON YEO, LINH DUONG, ISAAC KERLOW, TAN WENKAI
Additional Camera: ALEXANDER HOTZ, COLIN HARVEY
Field Sound: LINH DUONG, NILESH PAREKH
Additional Field Sound: ANTOINETTE JADE, MARK CHEUNG
Lead Illustration Artist: NGUYEN THI NAM PHUONG
Digital Effects: MARK CHEUNG
Peat and Landscape Animation: NGUYEN THI NAM PHUONG, HERBERT CHIA YU QING
Molecule Animation: MARK CHEUNG
Character Animation: JEGANNATH RAMANUJAM
Maps: WANG XIN
Additional Artwork: LEE MING ROU, TONG JUNWEI, ELAINE LIM, WANG XIN, LIU JING, DU YU TING
Music: SERGIO MOURE
Editing: ISAAC KERLOW
Coloring: CHARLIE TUCKER
Final Audio Remix: GABRIEL SERRANO
Dailies: IZZAH ANATI
Rolling Credits: TONG JUNWEI
Stock Footage: DEDI ASRI, DISSOLVE, DURI KALANGI, GOODYEAR RUBBER COMPANY, GOOGLE EARTH, JULIE AUSTIN, NASA, NIGEL DICKINSON, SERGI FERRAN PARERA, VIVERRA FILMS RUSSIA, WETLANDS INTERNATIONAL RUSSIA, WORLD TRAVEL HERITAGE SITES
Additional Data Sources: CENTER OF INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCH, ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH LETTERS, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF FINLAND, GLOBAL FOREST WATCH, GOOGLE EARTH, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL, HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY, INTERNATIONAL PEAT SOCIETY, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Additional Scientific Advisors: SRI HAPSARI BUDISULISTIORINI, JANICE SER HUAY LEE, RINI ASTUTI, JUKKA MIETTINEN
Indonesian Translation: ANTOINETTE JADE, SRI HAPSARI BUDISULISTIORINI, RINI ASTUTI
Rimba Dialect Translation: KRISTIAWAN JOHN, ZAHIDA HAMID
Drivers: ALIM, FEBY, JEF, MAZWAR, NOVA
Produced by ISAAC KERLOW
Assistant Producer: ANTOINETTE JADE
With the Collaboration of
ASIAN AGRI, ROYAL GOLDEN EAGLE
ASIAN SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENT, NTU
BADAN RESTORASI GAMBUT REPUBLIK INDONESIA
(INDONESIAN PEATLAND RESTORATION AGENCY)
CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SENSING AND MODELING, SMART
CENTRE FOR REMOTE IMAGING, SENSING AND PROCESSING, NUS
KEMENTERIAN LINGKUNGAN HIDUP DAN KEHUTANAN REPUBLIK INDONESIA
(INDONESIAN MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTRY)
KOMUNITAS KONSERVASI INDONESIA WARSI
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
MASYARAKAT PEDULI API, MPA
NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
NANYANG POLYTECHNIC
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE-MIT ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
S. RAJARATNAM SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, NTU
YAYASAN SETARA JAMBI
This research project was funded by
THE EARTH OBSERVATORY OF SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
AXA RESEARCH FUND
© 2018 Earth Observatory of Singapore
Art-Science-Media 