‘The Last Ranger’: Oscar-nominated short film shows us how precious animal life is
Oscar-nominated 'The Last Ranger' is an incredibly compelling, heart-stopping and heart-breaking short film. The film reaches to the very depths of our soul and shows us again, how precious life is, both animal and human. It teaches us many things about life. We have been called to steward, amplify and enjoy creation on Earth. We’ve been the keepers of the gate since the days of Adam and Eve, but we’ve left the gate open to poachers. Rhinos are facing extinction. On average one rhino is poached every 15 hours and one ranger is killed every week around the world trying to protect them. Over a ten year period, 1,000 rangers have lost their lives.
GREG EVANS: Inspired by a mixture of true stories, Oscar-nominated for short film, The Last Ranger is set on the Amakhala Game Reserve in South Africa during Covid. It follows Khuselwa, a ranger who has been tasked with fending off rhinoceros poachers, intent on stealing the majestic animals’ horns to trade on the black market. She is joined by Litha, a young local girl, who discovers a heart-wrenching truth behind a barbaric crime.
The Last Ranger, directed by Cindy Lee, is the second part of the pandemic anthology series When the World Stopped by Darwin Shaw and Will Hawkes, who are co-writers and producers of the film. Speaking to The Independent, Shaw says they came up with the story after hearing about a vet who was left “broken” upon encountering a rhino in South Africa that had been killed by poachers…
After navigating the complexities of shooting on location with wild animals in South Africa during Covid (“We had insurance but I’m not sure if that covered being eaten by a lion”, jokes Shaw), the crew began assembling their film, which revolves around the two central performances.
Khuselwa is played by Avumile Qongqo, a journalist and former Miss South Africa runner-up. Shaw explained that, after spending a day and a half on set with a real ranger, “something changed in her” and she understood that these people “would literally die to protect these creatures”. Shaw fights back tears when recalling a screening of the film where Qongqo’s family saw her act for the first time, with her brother observing: “So this is what a movie theatre is”…
Opposite Qongqo stars 11-year-old Liyabona Mroqoza, who had no professional acting experience before filming… The film also features Thandi, the first-ever rhinoceros in the world to survive an attack by poachers, who has since become a symbol for conservation. She is not the only wild animal seen in the film that features cinematography that David Attenborough crews would spend weeks trying to capture. This footage reportedly fooled a CGI team, who couldn’t believe the animal on screen was real…
The Last Ranger is an incredibly compelling, heart stopping and heart breaking short film. It teaches us many things about life. We have been called to steward, amplify and enjoy creation on Earth. We’ve been the keepers of the gate since the days of Adam and Eve, but we’ve left the gate open to poachers…
The most important element of this film is that it reaches to the very depths of our soul and shows you again, how precious life is, animal and human. For example, rhinos are facing extinction with about 16,800 white rhinos and 6400 black rhinos left in the world. There are only two northern white rhinos remaining.
Poaching in South Africa rose by 900% between 2009 & 2013. 1,349 rhinos were killed that year and they were placed on the endangered species list. On average one rhino is poached every day. Over a ten year period, 1,000 rangers have lost their lives protecting them…
The film is resonating with audiences and already instigating positive change in South Africa having gained support from the government. One rhino is killed every 15 hours and one ranger is killed a week around the world after becoming cartel targets. Shaw hopes that, in some way, The Last Ranger can raise awareness about this bleak fact. “It’s changing lives, he says. “Banks are coming in to support the Rhino Charities. So everything that we hope to do by telling this story is actually coming to pass”. SOURCE…
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