NONFICTION HOTLIST ORIGINALS
The Final Bow
A rare wood, a disappearing forest, and the music that could vanish with it.
About the Film
The Final Bow explores the fight to protect pernambuco, an endangered Brazilian tree essential to crafting the world's finest string instrument bows. Following artisans, musicians, and conservationists, the film examines the delicate balance between preserving a threatened species and safeguarding a centuries-old musical tradition.
- DOCUMENTARY
- SHORT DOCUMENTARY
- MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
- NATURE & ENVIRONMENT
- CONSERVATION
- CLASSICAL MUSIC
- VIOLIN BOW
- BOW MAKING
- CRAFTSMANSHIP
- ATLANTIC FOREST
- BRAZIL
- BIODIVERSITY
- SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY
- ENDANGERED SPECIES
- ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
- MUSICIANS
- PERFORMING ARTS
- Director
- Iona Horton & Luisa Barone
- Producers
- Iona Horton · Luisa Barone
- Editor
- Iona Horton & Luisa Barone
Festivals & Awards
- Top 10 Finalist for Best Short at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 2026
- Official Selection at Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital (DCEFF) 2026
Production Stills
The Filmmakers
Iona Horton is a British documentary filmmaker and Pulitzer Center Fellow whose work focuses on climate, conservation, and humanity's relationship with the natural world. She directs, produces, and shoots, with field experience from the Amazon rainforest to coral reefs. Before filmmaking she spent seven years in international sustainability consulting. She holds a Master's in Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford and a Master's in Journalism from Columbia Journalism School. Her debut film, The Final Bow, won the duPont/Judy F. Crichton Award.
Luisa Barone is a Brooklyn-based Italian journalist, producer, and filmmaker working across documentary, investigative reporting, and visual storytelling. Passionate about stories at the intersection between migration, climate, and culture, her work has been published and distributed across online, broadcast, print, and social platforms, including NBC News, HuffPost Italia, and the BBC. She is a Pulitzer Center and Fulbright Fellow, and a Columbia Journalism School alumna.
More about the Film
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