Watch our 2018 Year in Review film
READ ABOUT OUR 2018 ASSIGNMENTS AND WATCH SOME OF THE FILMS WE MADE!
James and Oli visit New York with Empowers Africa
We loved being part of the Empowers Africa event this year, a highlight for us as a team having worked with this organization for a number of years now. Empowers Africa support and raise funding for teams in Africa with a focus on wildlife conservation, land preservation and human empowerment.
Making films with Empowers Africa to assist with this fundraising has been so inspiring and rewarding. They are doing amazing work. For more about what this incredible organisation is doing check out their website and Instagram.
We were also able to showcase the teaser to our “Edge of Existence” project, and be part of a Q & A.
Watch the teaser here to learn more about human-wildlife conflict in Tanzania
Empowers Africa conservation safari
We completed an assignment for Empowers Africa this year that involved documenting their conservation safari. This included filming the dehorning of a rhino amongst other conservation related activities and individuals working in this space.
When it comes to dehorning rhino – this is not an easy call to make – and something that no one wants to do. But this is how serious rhino poaching has become, reaching crisis level. Dehorning aids in the fight to save every single rhino that we can – a deterrent to poachers who are currently incredibly active in the Kwazulu-Natal area.
Learn more by watching the film
Game Rangers International with Kristin Davis
Our team traveled to Zambia to document the challenging and important work being done by Game Rangers International. This was all made possible by Kristin Davis – a conservationist with a passion for elephants.
As well as being a part of resource protection and community empowerment in Zambia – Game Rangers International rescue and rehabilitate orphaned elephants and are the only ones in Zambia that do this.
Due to poaching and human-wildlife conflict many elephants are orphaned and cannot survive on their own if they are under two years of age. Without Game Rangers International so many more would not make it.
If you are able – please support and donate to this team, every bit counts.
Volcanoes Safaris in Rwanda and Uganda
We love working with Volcanoes Safaris and being a part of their conservation journey as they strive to support communities and aid in the protection of the endangered mountain gorilla.
We produced a number of films about their work with local communities, their lodges and we filmed the story of their Founder, Praveen Moman.
Celebrating gorillas and communities. Watch the film here
African Leadership University – growing conservation leaders
We filmed Mandla Mathonsi as a conservation leader today working for Singita at Singita Sabi Sands. Mandla is currently studying at the African Leadership University – he has grown remarkably through these studies and is implementing so much of what he learns everyday working for Singita in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve.
This was the first film shoot completed for ALU – documenting Mandla’s journey. We went on to film their campus in Rwanda and covered the incredible event they hosted this year – the Business of Conservation Conference. Bringing together filmmakers, conservationists and commerce in order to find solutions and enlighten all about how we as a collective can combat the issues and find the solutions around the business of conservation.
Singita Serengeti
Traveling to this part of Africa is unlike anything else; being immersed in the wild Serengeti in the Grumeti concession feels as though you could have been transported back in time to a truly untouched and beautiful wilderness, home to the great migration. Bringing travellers to Africa is so important in terms of changing people’s perceptions, enriching their lives and, most importantly, bringing awareness to important conservation initiatives.
We are so grateful to work with a company like Singita who not only focus on giving guests from around the world the most incredible African experiences, but whose purpose is in fact founded in a commitment to conserve and protect the exceptional wilderness areas in which they operate.
They partner with the Grumeti Fund to drive forward critical wildlife conservation projects in the Grumeti. Equally, they work to support and empower the local communities bordering these reserves through inspiring community projects; to them conservation is as much about the people as it is about the wildlife.
We look forward to sharing the films in the new year.
What is ‘Rise of the Matriarch?’ – this is our new project – a long format documentary film series about women working in conservation in Africa, creating change, doing the extraordinary. This is a project we are working on in partnership with Blue Sky Society Trust.
As part of this project we joined Blue Sky on their Rise of the Matriarch all female expedition to meet and support some of the teams on the ground that we hope to showcase in our film series.
We also visited Anne Rasa – who works with meerkats on her own at 78 years old in the Kalahari Desert – rescuing and rehabilitating them.
What an incredible woman to meet and get to know!
Here are some short video clips of just some of women we met.
Maria Diekmann from REST Namibia
Anna Songhurst from Ecoexist
The Singita Grumeti Fund – The Serengeti Girls Run with Singita and Brave Rock Girls
To support these programmes and raise much needed funding they hosted a three-day run through the Serengeti working with Singita and Brave Rock Girls, with some amazing women from around the world. Each one of these women as part of this project donated to this cause and took part in the run through this pristine wilderness area.
Learn more by watching the film
How are we ending off this year and spending our December?
Our team will be filming in the Malilangwe Trust in Zimbabwe, an area so beautiful it’s hard to put into words and an organization most definitely worth checking out! The rhino numbers, both black and white rhino, are increasing here and the work they have put into securing these populations is simply inspiring.
Our last assignment is with the Big Life Foundation – but we will share more about this with you in 2019.
Follow our Instagram Stories and join our team as they adventure on these last couple of film shoots in 2018!
