AWAKEN makes global trailer debut

AWAKEN, a documentary movie directed by acclaimed cinematographer, director and time-lapse pioneer Tom Lowe, has made its global trailer debut.

Produced by Dubai Film, its executive producers are Academy Award Nominee Terrence Malick and documentary filmmaking trailblazer Godfrey Reggio. The film features the song "Outro" by French electronic music artist, M83.

AWAKEN is a feature documentary film exploring humanity's relationship with technology and the natural world. The movie, whose production was based in Dubai, was shot over a five-year period in more than 30 countries. It pioneers new time-lapse, time-dilation, underwater, and aerial cinematography techniques to give audiences new eyes with which to see our world. The movie is a celebration of the spirit of life, an exploration of the Earth, and an ode to the Cosmos.

Following Tom Lowe’s "Timescapes" (2012), his first non-verbal-narrative short film, which featured groundbreaking time-lapse cinematography of the American Southwest, AWAKEN expands technological, artistic and geographical boundaries.

"One of the early driving forces of AWAKEN was to film the natural world in a way that could compete on a spectacle level with large visual-effects-heavy blockbusters, while at the same time capture everything ‘in camera,’ with no effects, compositing, or post-production tricks of any kind," Lowe said.

Hence, Lowe and his company, Dreamcore, set up operations in Dubai in 2012 and worked closely with Dubai Film to conceive and build several pieces of custom camera equipment, creating entirely new categories of filming techniques.

"With this film, we have created an immersive and unforgettable experience where the audience can explore the world in a whole new way. As the region’s film hub, Dubai is the ideal place to produce a groundbreaking film like AWAKEN. It is the kind of city where you see a glimpse of the future. It is fast-paced, dynamic, and embraces technology. Dubai Film embodies this spirit and uses technology to push the frontiers of filmmaking," Omar Alsalman, General Manager of Dubai Film, said.

Lowe and Dubai Film collaborated with the Shot over camera-stabilisation company in New Zealand to help develop the F1 camera gimbal system. They later modified the F1 gimbal to accept custom camera configurations, allowing Lowe to capture astrophotography time-lapse sequences at night from a helicopter in flight a first in filmmaking history. These technological achievements translate to the beautiful and never-before-seen footage of the Sierra Nevada and aurora storm-lit mountains of Northern Sweden, as highlighted in the trailer.

The film will be finished with a native Dolby Vision colour grade using Dolby’s Vision Laser 4K projector and the sound mix will be done in Dolby Atmos.