Chasing Ghosts - live on Wild Commons
Two photographers spent three years in the Florida Everglades trying to catch a single fleeting moment nobody had ever filmed.
The ghost orchid is one of North America's most elusive plants, and for decades the question of what pollinates it had gone unanswered. Photographers Carlton Ward Jr. and Mac Stone, alongside ecologist Peter Houlihan, decided to find out. Over three years, they climbed fifty-foot tree canopies, slept above water, waded through remote swamps, and set camera traps on flowers they could only hope would be visited, by a pollinator they weren't even sure would be nearby.
Chasing Ghosts, filmed by Eric Bendick of Grizzly Creek Studios, follows that search with patience and precision. The odds were never comfortable: the moth believed to pollinate the ghost orchid is so rare and so well camouflaged it is nearly invisible to the human eye, and a camera trap has to be positioned on exactly the right flower, with exactly the right settings, to catch pollination on film. After 6,800 camera trap hours and more than 52,000 images, the team made history. But the film is careful not to let the drama of discovery overshadow what it is really about: the deep, flooded swamps of South Florida, ancient ecosystems that most of the world has never seen, and the urgent need to protect what little of them remains.
Why This Film Matters
The ghost orchid's relationship with its pollinator is the product of millions of years of evolution, a living thread connecting the present to forests that once stretched across the entire southeastern United States. Chasing Ghosts uses the thrill of scientific discovery to make the case for habitat protection in places most people will never visit. It is a reminder that the stories worth protecting are often the ones we have barely begun to tell.
Film Credits
Filmmaker: Eric Bendick / Grizzly Creek Studios
Photographers: Carlton Ward Jr. and Mac Stone
Featuring: Ecologist Peter Houlihan
Location: The Florida Everglades, South Florida
Courtesy of: Carlton Ward Jr. and Mac Stone
What is Wild Commons?
Wild Commons was co-founded by the Wild Lens Collective and Impact Media Lab to provide a new way to distribute independent wildlife and environmental films. So many films have successful festival runs and then never get seen again due to the very broken distribution system - we’re here to change that!
The Wild Commons YouTube channel hosts amazing, free to watch independent films and supports the creators by using YouTube’s monetization tools. By watching the films and subscribing to our channel, you can support the filmmakers as well as helping them create even more films.