The award-winning South African documentary film STROOP – journey into the rhino horn war- premiered in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Two first-time filmmakers, Bonné de Bod and Susan Scott stopped their lives to make a film about the rhino poaching crisis in South Africa.
Scott: “In making the film about the rhino poaching crisis, I initially thought it would be all about the rhinos, but it’s actually become about the people around the animal. Those whose lives have been irrevocably changed because of conditions brought about.. not ecological management or natural events… but wholly due to anthropogenic activities.”
STROOP tells the shocking story of the ongoing poaching of the rhinoceros and the trade in its coveted horn. The passionate duo found themselves in danger during the making, filming special ranger units in the Kruger National Park.
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They also travelled undercover to the back rooms of wildlife traffickers and dealers in China and Vietnam. In recent weeks the hard-hitting film won the Green Tenacity award at the San Francisco Green Film event. It also raked in the Best Documentary Award at the San Diego Film Festival.
In Los Angeles, the film scooped the Best Female Filmmakers’ Award at the Glendale Film Festival, as well as the Special Documentary of Focus Award from the city’s premiere festival, L.A Femme. It was further crowned the Best Documentary flick at the San Pedro Film Fest, also held in L.A.
Bonné de Bod: “STROOP was initially a six month project. But I think when myself and the director of the film, Susan Scott, started filming we had no idea just how many layers the rhino situation really has. So, four years later, quiting our jobs with broadcasters, selling our homes, cashing in our investments and moving in with our mothers. Well, it has certainly become the cliché… a passion project!”
Watch the trailer below:
