The Garden of Evil is a documentary about Sir Peter Blake’s murder, Captain Pete Bethune’s knife attack and corruption
in The Amazon that is written, produced and directed by Larry Keating, with its world premiere at the DocEdge Film
Festival on 12 June at The Civic Theatre in Auckland.
This explosive story focuses on two prominent characters in the new world order of conservationists. Captain Pete
Bethune an eco-warrior who escaped certain death in a 2017 attack in the Amazon, and Sir Peter Blake a United Nations
Special Envoy for the environment, who was murdered aboard his research yacht Seamaster off Macapa at the mouth of the
Amazon in 2001.
Both Blake and Bethune were on independent missions sixteen years apart to bring about greater global awareness of the
environmental importance of the Amazon rainforest and its labyrinth of waterways.
“The film exposes the threats of ruthless protectionism, greed, unbridled street crime and river piracy,” explains
Larry. “Sir Peter Blake and Pete Bethune are examples of the thousands who have suffered at the hands of organised
criminals in the Amazon in recent years, in fact more than 200 guardians of the rainforest were murdered during the
making of The Garden of Evil”.
The film questions whether Blake and Bethune, as Brazilian authorities have led us to believe, were simply in “the wrong
place at the wrong time” or were there more sinister reasons for the attacks and Blake’s slaying? Three investigative
journalists seeking answers and searching for the truth are led by renowned Professor of Criminology and BBC TV
presenter Donal MacIntyre with Brazilian based Ciao Vilela and Sam Cowie.
For the very first time, we meet the gunman who fired the fatal shots that took Sir Peter’s life.
What has taken four years to produce including months on-location filming in the Amazon, this privately funded
production is ready for world-wide distribution and general theatrical release throughout New Zealand.
The Garden of Evil has been nominated for judging in the Doc Edge Festival Awards including:
Best New Zealand Feature, Best New Zealand Director, Best New Zealand Editing, Best New Zealand Cinematography. The
winner of the Best Feature will receive an Oscar consideration. This film has also been selected to appear at the
Montreal Independent Film Festival.
This film revives the selfless purpose of why Blake and Bethune were in the Amazon. They went there to see firsthand the
probable grim environmental future if nothing is done to control the destruction of the rainforest and the exploitation
of its riches and to demonstrate to the world what really matters – we are all guardians of the rainforest.
To view the movie trailer and learn more about the film, please visit www.gardenofevilmovie.com
To attend the world premiere on 12 June at The Civic Theatre in Auckland or to see the film in Wellington on 26 June at
The Roxy, please visit The Garden Of Evil - Documentary Edge (docedge.nz)