After witnessing the 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay, John Francis is determined to travel across America on foot — and in silence.
Directed by: dominic & Nadia Gill
As filmmakers immersed in outdoor exploration, we’ve long been drawn to the transformative nature of slow, deliberate journeys. Dr. Francis’s odyssey resonated with us, not merely as an act of personal discipline but as a profound reflection on the human condition. His conclusion feels particularly urgent in today’s polarized world: “How we treat each other is the first opportunity to positively impact the environment.”
Our own journey as filmmakers reflects a similar passion for meaningful storytelling. Dominic’s career began with a tandem bicycle trip from Alaska to Argentina, chronicled in the award-winning book and film Take a Seat, which earned the National Outdoor Book Award and a Special Jury Prize at the Banff Film Festival. After meeting Dominic in Bolivia, Nadia left her career in law to co-found Encompass Films. Together, we’ve explored the intersection of humanity and nature in projects like Coming to My Senses, Climbing Out of Disaster, Our Children’s River, and Last Call for the Bayou, a Smithsonian Channel series examining coastal erosion in Louisiana’s wetlands.
With Planetwalker, we illuminate not just one man’s extraordinary journey but also a message for our times: environmental stewardship begins with human kindness. For more information about our work, visit encompassfilms.com.
Who is Dr. John Francis?
Dr. John Francis, globally known as “The Planetwalker,” is a visionary environmentalist, educator, and storyteller whose extraordinary life continues to inspire action for a better world. His journey began in 1971 after witnessing an oil spill in San Francisco Bay, a moment that prompted him to give up motorized transportation for 22 years and embrace a 17-year vow of silence. Through these radical acts, he redefined activism, choosing personal commitment over rhetoric to model the changes he wished to see in the world.
During his silent years, Dr. Francis earned 3 degrees including a Ph.D. in land resources at the University of Wisconsin Madison, focusing on oil spill management (recognize the hat?). He began speaking on earth day 1988.
John went to work for the United States Coast Guard and was appointed United Nations Goodwill Ambassador to the grassroots, emphasizing the interconnectedness of environmental stewardship and human rights. He authored two adult books chronicling his journey and recently expanded his message to younger audiences with Human Kindness: True Stories of Compassion and Generosity that Changed the World. The children’s book highlights acts of kindness throughout history, aiming to inspire the next generation to build a more compassionate society.
Today, Dr. Francis collaborates with The GLOBE Program, an international science and education initiative, as he undertakes a monumental walk from Cape Town to Cairo. This journey symbolizes his enduring commitment to sustainability, global unity, and the power of individual action to drive systemic change.
To learn more about John please visit www.planetwalk.org
Animations: Remy NDow
Remy is an art and animation director from Antwerp, Belgium. Since a young age he’s eagerly been doing anything that has to do with creativity. to bring every assignment to life he looks for the fairy-tail quality that everyone of them has. He’s now working to expand his one many operation into a full-fledged media agency.
Editing: Niq Lewis
Niq is a film editor, a native New Yorker and an 80’s baby. Her family moved from Brownsville, Brooklyn to Central Harlem in the early 90’s, and it was at the Schomburg Library reading poetry by Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou that she began to understand the power that came with telling our own stories, unapologetically, as black people.
Music: Greg Johnson
Greg, known around the interwebs more commonly as Acoustic Labs — also the title of his Youtube channel with over 50,000 subscribers and more than 10 million views. He also does other things like compose for films and TV Type Things: HBO’s Deadwood, Netflix’s Messiah, Jungle staring Daniel Radcliffe, etc.