In 1979, Nixon led a film crew to Rwanda to produce a documentary about famed zoologist Dian Fossey. Nixon pressed Fossey to allow him to make a dramatic film about her life; she agreed to grant him the rights to her story, for free, provided that he spend a year dedicated to hands-on conservation. Film studios became interested in Fossey's life after she was murdered in 1985, and her story was told in the feature film, Gorillas in the Mist, which Nixon co-produced. The film, which starred Sigourney Weaver, was a critical and commercial success. Nixon next wrote, produced and directed the dramatic film Amazon Diary, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1990. Shot in the Amazon, the film examined the story of the Kayapo Indians, their relationship with the harpy eagle and their battle to protect the rain forest.
