First Trailer Released for Super Nature, the Feature Documentary Shot Entirely on Super 8
- Cinelab Film & Digital
- Jul 7
- 2 min read
The first official UK trailer has landed for Super Nature, a feature documentary shot entirely on Super 8mm film, and Cinelab Film & Digital is proud to have played a part in bringing it to the screen.
Described as "a love letter to nature and our connection to it," Super Nature was captured by contributors connecting across the world, with barely any travel between them. All 82 minutes of the finished film, including the credits and titles, were shot on Super 8mm film, making it a landmark demonstration of what the format can still achieve in the right hands.
Directed by Ed Sayers, founder of Straight 8 Super Nature is directed, edited and produced by Ed Sayers, who founded the Super 8 filmmaking competition Straight 8 in 1999. Cinelab has a long-standing, collaborative relationship with Straight 8, and we're proud to have supported Ed in bringing this project to life.
The idea for the film took root when Roger Batteault, a Straight 8 entrant, submitted a short of flamingos in flight - inspiring Ed to pick up his own Super 8 camera and film seals on the Norfolk coast. From that moment in early 2020, Super Nature grew into a global collaboration: over 40 filmmakers in 25 countries, many from the Straight 8 community alongside conservationists, biologists and activists, were supplied with vintage Super 8 cameras - 80 in total - and asked to film the natural world around them.
The result is a patchwork of vignettes from six continents, from desert quail in the USA and whales in Argentina to reindeer in Norway and reef life in Tasmania, tied together by Ed's own voiceover and footage.
A Cinelab supported production
Most of Super Nature was processed and scanned right here at Cinelab Film & Digital in London, with black-and-white processing at Andec and specialist and home processing handled by Adrian Cousins, John Salim, Ben Slotover and Frank Bruinsma of Super 8 Reversal Lab, Netherlands (who ran the EM-26 process for the Ektachrome 160 stock).
Cinelab's CEO, Adrian Bull, serves as one of the film's executive producers, alongside Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna, 2073), whose backing has already helped draw significant attention to the film.
Reviewing the film's premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, Screen Daily called Super Nature "impactful," noting that "the Super 8 format itself lends a tactile, nostalgic feel that proves warm and immediate, removing barriers between viewer and subject."
Where to see it
Following its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and screenings at festivals across Europe and North America, including its recent North American premiere at DC/DOX, Super Nature will be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 4 September, with Q&A previews running from 17 August. It will arrive on BFI Player and Blu-ray later in 2026.
It's a rare thing to see a feature documentary shot entirely on a format most people assume belongs to the home-movie archive rather than the cinema screen - and we couldn't be prouder to have been part of making it happen.
