‘Ellis Park’ was made as a documentary to showcase the Ellis Park animal sanctuary in Sumatra but it also platforms three sides to a remarkable Australian musician Warren Ellis (The Dirty Three, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds).
Ellis met conservationist Femke den Hass through Australian Lorinda Jane and the three embarked on a project that is now Ellis Park in Sumatra. The park is dedicated to rescuing abused animals captured (and often mutilated) for trafficking. At the park they are brought back to health and if capable, released back into the wild.
There is a warning to the story, because to demonstrate what brilliant work these people are doing, sometimes graphic images of unbelievable cruelty were needed to be used by Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel. The cruelty of the poachers is contrasted with the love, devotion and dedication by the team at Ellis Park (named after its co-founder Warren).
Warren said at the Q&A after the screening “I get so pissed off with Instagram. The only way to solve a problem is to turn up and do something about it”, so he did.
He said he didn’t get involved with the project “to get a thousand likes on Instagram. I did it because I believed in it so I went public. People got involved sending money and within two months we had the money to build the foundation”.
The star of the film is Rina, an abused female Pig Tailed Macaque who was rescued from wildlife traders in Bandung, West Java. What was left out of the story was Rina wasn’t actually a fan of Warren. Warren said, “Rina didn’t like me and she attacked me. Justin said “play the violin” and she launched at me and pulled her teeth out and I could hear someone say “get out” but Justin yelled “hold position” (so he would film”).
“The film ended up being something totally different to what it started out to be,” Warren said.
The story of the park is one part of this story. We also find two other parallel storyboards within the main story. The second level is the creation of the soundtrack. Warren also composed the soundtrack to the documentary and as the movie progresses and we also get an insight into how the mind of Warren Ellis works to compose his score and, in fact, everything he has done with Cave and The Dirty Three.
The third parallel is of the real man, the devoted son, who deeply loves and cares for his elderly parents John and Diane from Ballarat in central Victoria. John was once a buddy country singer, who one day just gave it away. One of Johnny’s songs ‘Mis’ry Is My Middle Name’ features throughout the documentary. Sadly, John Ellis passed away in December 2023 before the completion of this film.
In going back to Ballarat we are presented with a better understanding of the musician Warren Ellis. He claims, and his brother concurs, that they were once awoken to see clowns in their backyard. Warren swears it was true. John thought he was mad.
Ellis Park has Melbourne International Film Festival screenings at on 17 August and 24 August. Details are here.
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