Two women left their jobs, sold their homes, moved in with their parents and worked for four years to make a film about Rhino Poaching… now they have ten international awards.
Johannesburg, South Africa (31 October 2018) – Bonné de Bod and director Susan Scott risked their lives, placing themselves in incredible danger to document the war on rhino poaching. They planned to tell a story so brutal and heartbreaking, all to spread one message… That rhino poaching must stop.
Their documentary film called “S T R O O P” has been shown on screens across the globe and it has earned them ten international awards from 9 film festivals.
The documentary has even made a huge first as it opened Europe’s prestigious wildlife film festival. The opening slot is usually saved for films from European countries or films on the Oscars list but its powerful message was too hard to ignore.
“The buzz around the rhino documentary made it a natural choice,” said festival director Raymond Laagerwald.
“We have followed the film’s progress through the years of filming and then seeing the final product, we picked it to open even before the Americans gave it so many awards, and that just confirmed what we already knew… that the film would do well here”.
The film looks into the dark underworld of rhino poaching, where the need for the horn comes from and how people on the frontline of the war are fighting to stop poachers in their tracks.
‘In an exclusive first, de Bod and Scott filmed special ranger units inside the world-famous Kruger National Park and at the home of the white rhino, the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park and travelled undercover to the dangerous back rooms of wildlife traffickers and dealers in China and Vietnam. The result is a hard-hitting and moving film that challenges and shocks.
Through unprecedented footage, Scott and de Bod have created a stunning, independent film made with crowdfunding and grants, that shows why this hunted and targeted species deserves to live in dignity, free from exploitation by illegal traders, poachers, money men and corrupt governments.’
They risked their lives to share a message by telling an important story and it led to a gut-wrenching masterpiece that has now scooped up ten international awards.
“So it’s been a long and emotional odyssey making STROOP, but the attention and global awareness this film has been getting has really taken us by surprise. We hoped for this but seeing it actually happen on such a large scale is just incredible.” – Susan Scott
The awards are as follows:
- San Francisco Green Film Festival – The Green Tenacity Award
- Santa Cruz Film Festival – Spirit of Action Feature Film Award
- San Pedro International Film Festival – Best Documentary Award
- Glendale International Film Festival – Best Female Filmmaker Award
- LA Femme International Film Festival – Special Focus Documentary Award
- San Diego International Film Festival – Best Documentary Award
- Mystic Film Festival – Best International Documentary Award
- Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam – Newcomer Award
- Berlin Courage Film Festival – Best Documentary Award
- Berlin Courage Film Festival – The Courage Award for Most Courageous Film
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