Naledi: A Baby Elephant's Tale
Special Screening - Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2016
Ben Bowie, Geoff Luck / Feature Documentary / United States of America, Botswana / 2016 / 90 min / Colour / Bluray / In English / MENA Premiere
Rated: Parental guidance is advised. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.
Synopsis
There is much jubilation when Naledi the elephant is born in a safari camp in Botswana – in part because of the grand beauty of nature, but more significantly because this represents some small success in the battle to protect the elephants of Africa. Critically endangered by the international ivory trade – while the murder of these magnificent beasts is illegal, the highly lucrative trade in their tusks is not – the wellbeing of the elephants of the African plains is a great concern for their champions across the continent.
Abu Camp is sort of a halfway house for elephants, among them Naledi’s mother Kiti, who was separated from her herd. Unfortunately, after giving birth Kiti becomes terribly ill and has to be put down. This tragedy takes its toll on Naledi, who refuses to eat and rapidly becomes malnourished to the point of death. In parallel with increasingly desperate attempts to keep Naledi alive, this documentary looks at Africa-wide projects that are trying to prevent the extinction of the species.
The most distressing moment in the documentary is the discovery of the murder of one of Earth’s oldest elephants for his massive tusks. Tens of thousands of these amazing creatures are killed each year; ‘Naledi: A Baby Elephant’s Tale’ is a critical demonstration that every elephant counts.
About the Director
Emmy-nominated director Ben Bowie is the award-winning co-founder of the media production company Bigger Bang. His last feature, ‘Hawking’ kicked off SXSW in 2014. The former managing director of world-renowned Darlow Smithson Productions, Ben specialises in high-end factual content and has produced dozens of hours of programming for PBS, Discovery and the BBC.
Geoff Luck has produced, directed, shot or edited more than 100 programmes for National Geographic over the past decade. His award-winning work on nature, science and culture has also been featured on PBS, Discovery, The Sundance Channel and Showtime, and showcased at the Museum of Modern Art. He holds degrees in filmmaking from Harvard University and the San Francisco Art Institute.
Credits
- Director
- Ben Bowie, Geoff Luck
- Producer
- Hilary Sparrow, Emre Izat
- Editor
- Ben Harding, Geoff Luck
- Music
- Nick Urata
- Sales Company
- Off The Fence
- Production Company
- Off the Fence, Vulcan Productions