Introduction

While several Southern Africans had tried to make films in the Kruger National Park and elsewhere in Southern Africa before the arrival of the Wild Kingdom and Survival teams, the successes and themes of the foreign crews seem to have spurred several local initiatives in the early 1970s – some with distinctly political motivations attached to them. In particular, the South African Department of Information saw the positive possibilities of wildlife conservation highlighting South Africa’s successes at a time when its trusteeship of South-West Africa was coming under increasing scrutiny.

Before 1974

In his summary of developments in the KNP before 1945, Stevenson-Hamilton commented that:

David Bunn has analysed ways in which some local insiders had privileged access to water-holes or prime viewing spots for photography (Bunn 2003), but when it came to film, the foreign professionals seemed to enjoy privileges that were resented by locals who complained, for example, that the Americans could use ‘skerms’ or hides whereas they were not allowed to.

Beinart and Coates state that the Kruger had made several films attacking elephant poaching, but I have found no trace of those (Beinart and Coates 2002). The most influential of the local amateur film-makers may have been influential as an example of what not to do! Michael Rosenberg speaks in an interview of how he watched his father filming at random and then struggling to compose anything coherent with his footage. His father’s experiences led Rosenberg to decide to do things differently and to shoot more purposefully, but had his father not experimented and got things wrong, Rosenberg may never have started filming and editing in the way he did.

Rhinos

If one judged the influence of documentaries by how the culture at large takes them up, particularly in feature films, then the rescue of the white rhino from extinction in the Natal (now KZN) Parks Umfolozi and Hluhluwe should have been a central theme.