King of Beasts

Aaron, an American hunter, enters the dark heart of the African bush, on a surreal neocolonial expedition, emulating 1000s of years of indigenous rite of passage rituals, as he hunts the ultimate trophy - the king of beasts.

Film can be viewed outside the festival here

How did King of Beasts first come together as a project?
One of our producers was at a party in NYC where he met a South African ex-hunter who told him about the practice of lion trophy hunting in Africa. He brought the story to us and we started researching and realized the size of the trophy hunting industry versus the dwindling numbers of wildlife in Africa. Particularly the big five and the African wild lions. As animal lovers and dog rescuers this instantly created a sense of urgency in us and we decided we needed to tell the story of lions and shed light on their plight.

What is most striking about the film is the lack of narration. What made you choose this route for your film?
By letting the story just unfold in front of our eyes without guiding it, we take our audience on a film-like thought provoking journey, and allow them to immerse in the experiences of the people and events depicted in the movie, rather than place labels on their actions. This choice calls for a deeper curiosity and investment from the audience, to fully understand what is happening on the ground in Africa. Because, yes it is a horror film, but the facts are puzzling, and the truth as always is illusive and not one-sided, but rather complex.

Over what time period was the documentary filmed? Did you notice changes in the place or people during your project?
We have worked on the film for 7 years give or take. We filmed a lot of footage in hunting conventions, including interviews with many prominent figures in this sub-culture industry. We also filmed in other African countries such as Namibia. Ultimately We chose to edit our film around the lion hunt in Tanzania. Tanzania and the area we filmed in, the Tabora region, is currently on the fast track of industrial as well as digital revolutions and infrastructure implements and developments. So while the local population is poor, people still use their bikes or animals to deliver local honey from the bush to the main town, everyone has their smart phone and everyone wear the latest fashion jeans and sneakers. We certainly felt that the hunters were in the for-front of humans takeover of the bush and wildlife. As we see and hear in the film - they pave new roads into the bush and ultimately nature is the loser.

Did you feel your own personal beliefs on trophy hunting shift?
Trophy hunting shouldn't exist in the first place. That said, until local governments support an anti-hunting approach, develop sustainable national parks and nature preservation models, and provide the communities in places like the Tabora region with substitute means for making a decent living, nothing will change really. This was a very powerful lesson for me, understanding the meaning of 'if it pays it stays'. But we don't have to put a price on everything, humanity can be much better than that. We can have different values, as we do have the resources and understanding at this point. Humans and nature can co-exist.

What has the reaction been from the hunters such as Aaron that you filmed? Have they been satisfied with your portrayal of them?
Aaron gets almost 90 minutes to make his case. That is why he signed onto the project to begin with, and we have allowed him to be himself. We were fair, and he just showed us what he does. I don't think he particularly likes the final result. And in this day and age in America, where society is on the brink of a clear political divide, it makes sense. Albeit again, I think that we as filmmakers, didn't take political sides. We are fully aware that trophy hunting is political, like everything else in America these days. But we let the hunters present their case and we side with the lions (laughs)

What were the major challenges in putting this film together?
All the usual challenges such as finding our story, raising the funding. But the biggest challenge was to find the right hunter that would take us with him and share his African journey experience with us. We have met with many other hunters. We met with animal rights people, activists, scientists, political figures. Many of these people either back out of the project or were too intimidated to fully disclose their opinions and actions. We even had a scientist who only agreed to meet us in a park. She wouldn't let us come to her house, she has been receiving death threats. For obvious reasons there's a lot of hate and violence directed against trophy hunters and anyone who sides with their agenda. themselves and . In that respect I salute Aaron for being brave enough to provide us with the access.

What projects are coming for you in the future?
My next project is a feature film I wrote and will direct, a crime thriller titled Reciprocal Beat. Very different from King of Beasts, but it does bear some similar story lines, such as men with guns and sins of the fathers...(laughs) In any case the African bush is replaced with the deep south. My company, Urban Tales Productions, where I'm partners with Gabrielle who produced King of Beasts is producing this film, as well as a slate of other films, we're developing. Including a film that would shoot in Australia.

Do you have any message for our Melbourne audience?
Hello Melbourne! Well, first of all thank you for reading, watching the film and hopefully share the plight of the lions with others. We are grateful for any support for the topic. Hopefully, we are all out of the pandemic threats and restrictions soon. This pandemic is another warning sign of the how the constant conflict between humans and our nature, our planet, could quickly deteriorate and ultimately lead to our demise as a specie. So perhaps we can all collectively and individually be more conscious and make thoughtful and harmonious choices, when we interact with our planet.