The White Diamond

THE WHITE DIAMOND is a film about the daring adventure of exploring the rainforest canopy with a novel flying device – the Jungle Airship. Airship engineer Dr. Graham Dorrington embarks on a trip to the giant Kaieteur Falls in the heart of Guyana, hoping to fly his helium-filled invention above the treetops. But this logistic effort will not be without risk. Twelve years ago, a similar expedition into the unique habitat of the canopy ended in disaster when Dorrington's friend Dieter Plage fell to his death. With the expedition is Werner Herzog, setting out with a new prototype of the airship, into the Lost World of the pristine rain forest in this little explored area of the world, to record and tell this unique story. Through breathtaking photography, Herzog paints a more sensitive picture than one would expect from him. The myth of Icarus transposed into Guyana still forms a Fitzcarraldo-like theme in bringing technology to the jungle, but Herzog finds almost mystical depths in the images of a white balloon surrounded by the vast Amazon forest.