Baron Peter Von Puttkamer (born April 8, 1962) is a Canadian filmmaker known for his unique approach to adventure documentary series for network television,[1][2] and for his work with Indigenous communities in his country and around the world.
Paradise Valley resort, which once hosted a music festival that included artists like Joni Mitchell, Chicago, Taj Mahal and The Grateful Dead,[22][23] employed local native people, which gave Peter a chance to get to know their cultures in a unique and personal way and encouraged him to use his talent as a filmmaker to not only document their lives, but also help improve their conditions.
[36][37][38][39] In 1987- von Puttkamer was Director of Photography and Editor on "Walking with Grandfather" a 6 part Live Action/Animated PBS children's series based on Native American legends.
[40] In 1989-91, he wrote/produced/directed "The Spirit of the Mask”; in 1991 he also wrote/produced/directed the award-winning AIDS drama for Native Americans- "A Chance for Change", featuring well-known First Nations actors-Evan Adams, Margo Kane and Michelle Thrush.
In 2000 he wrote, produced and directed Monster Hunters which aired on TLC in 2002[49] and was a six part series about groups of cryptozoologists hunting Cryptids worldwide: like Chupacabras, Yowie, Cadborosaurus and more.
[57][58][59] The program was co-written and hosted by National Geographic Explorer in Residence Wade Davis who describes the life of famed Harvard plant-explorer Richard Evans Schultes.
Shot in the Amazon and several other countries, the program reveals how Schultes' discoveries of hallucinogens amongst the indigenous peoples of the Americas inadvertently helped spark the psychedelic era.
Von Puttkamer's film "Lost in the Amazon: The Enigma of Col Percy Fawcett" premiered on April 20, 2011, on PBS was narrated by Liev Schreiber.