Tigers on the Rise

This educational documentary, released for Earth Day in tandem with sister film Tiger, both complements and raises questions about its companion piece. In Tigers on the Rise, we get to see how the fascinating Tiger got made. It involved many people, more than five years of work, state-of-the-art equipment, and a good dose of courage. The filmmakers had to earn the trust of the tigers to get close, and they find themselves feeling attached to their subjects. If the stars of Tiger are the animals themselves, the stars of Tigers on the Rise are the Indian doctors, researchers, guards, and conservationists working every day to preserve and support India's tiger population.

Some of their projects, like "re-wilding" farmland or painting eyes on cows' rear ends, are ingenious. This film shows how India's protected reserves are increasingly butting up against populated villages and cities, leading to more interactions between tigers and humans. It makes the viewer of the two films wonder what we aren't shown in Tiger. Which footage is the same, and which is new? Are the animals featured in Tiger also living that close to humans, even though their habitat is depicted as wild and vast? The questions don't diminish the viewing experience of either film, but they do cast a shadow of doubt over the nature documentary format. A more authentic and holistic view might have been achieved by combining the two films.