Claire, Ming-Lan Shu used to be a financial news anchor, but is now a documentary presenter who has traveled to almost 60 countries on 7 continents. Aiming to deliver the real in-depth stories from every corner of the globe.
Focus on Earth – our global village
It has been over a decade since Claire first started as the presenter of “Earth Focus”, a documentary series that focuses on issues such as the global environmental crisis, animal conservation, and human rights.
She has set foot everywhere, from volcanic islands in the Amazon to the Arctic. She has drifted across the Thailand-Myanmar border to the post-war battlefields in Vietnam. She has even uncovered the truth behind the corrupt empire of Dubai and the blood diamonds in Africa. Her in-depth reports have brought audiences closer to even the furthest reaches of our planet.
In the documentary series Vanishing Kings, Claire traveled nearly 20,000km from Taiwan to the desert and grasslands of Africa. In the first series, “Vanishing Kings I- Lions of Namib Desert”,she studied and documented the dilemma of endangered desert lions with scientist Philp Standard.
The second series, “Vanishing Kings II- Titans of Savannah”, saw her track and photograph several species including Elephants, Rhinos, and Cheetahs that are under threat of extinction due to human hunting.
In the final series “Vanishing Kings III- Orangutan of Borneo”, she voyaged to the Borneo rainforest to unveil the brutal fact that Orangutans are facing imminent extinction due to rainforest deforestation.
She hopes that these documentaries can raise awareness of the need to protect the endangered wildlife in our world, and advocate for the importance of maintaining ecological balance.
Focus on Taiwan – our Isla Formosa
Though Taiwan is relatively small, covering less than 0.3% of the earth’s total land area, the seas around our island are home to one-tenth of the world’s fish species.
In her work “Guardian of Formosa” in 2021, she photographed the forest, ocean, and wildlife in Taiwan and documented the suffering of our beautiful island due to climate change and overexploitation by humans.
She witnessed dozens of sea turtles caught up in an abandoned fishing net, and the risk of mass coral bleaching in southern Taiwan as a result of high sea temperatures.
Her latest work “Call of the Ocean” invites viewers to take an in-depth look at Cetaceans and sea turtles, two of Taiwan’s protected marine wildlife species. And promotes the urgency of protecting these vulnerable creatures against human-induced climate change.
Behind the scenes – a moment of life and death
Claire and her crew have always worked in high-risk environments and under extreme weather conditions. They use a variety of transportation loaded with heavy equipment and luggage. They stay awake day and night, ready to capture valuable moments on camera.
Despite the sometimes, harsh working conditions, Claire believes that by showing the great beauty of the world in her documentaries she can help others to see something deeper in other species and understand that we are all obligated to act as guardians of this incredible planet.
