There is a moment, somewhere in the opening minutes of this film, where you realise you are watching something that took decades to make.
Not in the editing suite. Not in the planning. But out there, in the thickets, on the banks of the Sand River, in the quiet accumulation of mornings where a leopard decided, again, that the people in the vehicle were worth tolerating. That decision, made first by one female, the mother leopard, in 1979 and inherited by her daughters and their daughters after her, is what this film is built on.
Into the Unknown is not about the drama of the bush, though there is plenty of that. It is about something harder to film and harder still to explain, the particular quality of trust that builds between wild animals and the people patient enough to earn it. Forty-seven years of it. Six lineages. Generations of trackers reading the same signs in the sand. Rangers who came here not knowing what they were walking into and never quite left.
We have been telling pieces of this story for a long time. On this blog, in the Virtual Safari, around campfires. But some stories need more than words and weekly episodes. Some stories need ten minutes of your undivided attention.
This is that story.
We think you will find it was worth the wait.
Sit back and enjoy…
Lovely and mysterious….beautiful filming!
Sean, that is truly spectacular and a wonderful reflection on Londolozi.
Just 1 small criticism…I found the music too loud, but when I turned it down I couldn’t hear what you were all saying.
Roll on November! I often have to remind myself how lucky I am to have seen so many leopard generations, as you say, you feel a very special bond with them.
What a great video on leopards and the wild.
Seeing a leopard always makes me happy. It can’t really be explained but leopards are the most incredible animals.
Hi Sean, this is the magic of the raw images and technique of the past mixed with the refined ones of the present. I can’t believe the Shingi male, how habituated he is. All leopards are unique gems. The magnetism in their eyes… the beautiful coat…. the relationship between John Varty and Manana was something that took my breath away. I’m so happy the story went on. They have been successfully followed and admired until today. And you can’t forget one, if you do, there is the genetic map! Thank you so much for this video of Dreams come true…
A timeless story, beautifully filmed and narrated – 10 minutes that I will watch again and again. Thank you Londolozi!
Hi Sean, that was such a beautiful film on the leopards of Londolozi. Thank you for sharing it with us. They are illusive and that is what makes it so exilerating to view a leopard. Fantastic 🎥 film.