The archive · Content & Film · Product decision · 2026
Ed Sayers sends Super 8 cameras to 40 filmmakers in 25 countries for a nature film
Rather than travel to nature, Super Nature sends Super 8 cameras to 40 filmmakers in 25 countries and stitches their home footage into one choral documentary.
Super Nature
What it had to solve
Ed Sayers, director and founder of straight 8, an annual Super 8 competition and community, wanted a collective ode to the planet that drew on the analog format's democratic, amateur legacy — and that did not repeat the traditional documentarian approach of travelling to capture far-flung locales.
How it works
Super 8 was introduced by Kodak in 1965 with amateurs in mind, and it remains a stalwart of filmmaking for those drawn to its grainy, nostalgic qualities. Ed Sayers, director and founder of straight 8 — an annual Super 8 competition and community — tapped into that equalizing legacy for his latest project, Super Nature.
The film is a collective ode to the planet made by 40 collaborators in 25 countries across five continents. Rather than travel the world capturing far-flung sights, Sayers subverted the traditional documentary approach by stitching together stories of people and creatures filmed directly from their homes. Participants included lauded photographers Gideon Mendel and Ami Vitale, the Enawene Nawe tribe in Brazil, straight 8 filmmakers and communities introduced through Greenpeace's network.
Because the prompt had few guardrails, the difficulty lay in making the film cohesive: Sayers searched for where disparate segments fitted together and offered suitable segues, so that as an ensemble the stories became more than the sum of their parts. He also asked for glimpses of the filmmakers themselves and narration that situates each frame, with eleven languages and dozens of accents emphasizing the rootedness of each contributor.
The result, released by BFI Distribution, began screening in the U.K. and Ireland in September 2026. For Sayers, analog is now the radical choice: a roll lasts only a couple of minutes and costs money, so it forces planning, study and the patience to wait for the right light — a different discipline from whipping out an iPhone and taking twenty shots.
Why it lands
- The constraint is the message: a three-minute roll forces filmmakers to study their subject and wait for the moment, producing the patience that an ode to nature deserves.
- The production model matches the subject: cameras mailed to 25 countries make the film a chorus of home perspectives rather than the gaze of one travelling crew.
- The tool democratizes participation: many contributors had never shot Super 8, so video-call tuition let an Indigenous tribe and celebrated photographers sit side by side.
- The grainy look is chosen, not accidental: against AI and frictionless digital creation, an analog format with real cost per frame reads as more radical, not less.
What it did
Released by BFI Distribution, Super Nature began screening in the U.K. and Ireland in September 2026, with several London showtimes; Colossal's feature frames the all-analog production as ever more radical in an age of AI and frictionless digital technologies.
What you can take
When the subject is the whole planet, distribute the production: send cameras to storytellers, trade crew polish for home-made grain, and let the short film roll force intention.
Since then
As of Colossal's 3 September 2026 feature, BFI Distribution had released Super Nature and it was screening in the U.K. and Ireland, with showtimes listed on the film's website. No audience or box-office figures had been reported. The durable move is the production model: Ed Sayers' straight 8 method — cameras by post, tuition by video call, voices kept in the film — is a reusable template for letting many hands make one immersive story.
Sources
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe the brief you are staring at, and see who has been given the same problem.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card