Horn – in development
Cinéma Humain Films | Environment
What is the film about?
The world rhino population has fallen by more than 90% in the past thirty years. Of the thirty species that once existed across the world, only five remain today, and all of these are facing extinction due to human superstition and greed. On 25 October 2011, it was confirmed that the last rhino in Vietnam died – a fact that places the two African rhino species (the white and black rhino) in even greater danger. In the year 2012 alone, it is known that over 668 of South Africa’s 20.000 rhino population were lost to illegal poaching. If it continues at this ever-increasing rate, South African rhinos will be extinct within the next ten years!
It is a well-known fact that for centuries the rhino horn has been an essential ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine to cure practically everything. It is also known that the use of rhino horn for medicinal purposes has scientifically long since been discredited. One might as well chew one’s own fingernail, since it consists of exactly the same chemical material. So, why is poaching on the rise?
The film Horn (working title) is a lived documentary that creatively investigates the issue of rhino poaching by focusing on specific anti-poaching units in South Africa’s Waterberg region. The intention is to determine how effective anti-poaching as a solution-driven method is to combat the surge in organised poaching. A key dimension is the assessment of anti-poaching training as a forward-looking strategy that serves the protection of not only rhinos, but also the wider community. This includes an evaluation of the physical and psychological impact of such training by following an actor playing a specifically created character within a real-life training situation. The intention is to thereby explore sustainable solutions to this dilemma while simultaneously commenting on the wider socio-political context connected to the survival of the South African rhinos.