Hungry Bison Films and Shamwari Game Reserve have won in two categories at the annual International Tourism Film Festival Africa (ITFFA).
Filmmaker Andrew Barratt’s Shamwari promotional video and a documentary on the largest vulture relocation in Africa respectively took the top awards for Tourism Video and Documentary, TV & Web Programme – Wildlife Conservation.
The International Tourism Film Festival Africa (ITFFA) honours all video content related to the tourism and travel industry. Founded in 2019 it aims to recognise and promote works with exceptional and innovative content and contribute towards stimulating the development and growth of the national and African audio-visual industry.
Wildlife filmmaker, Barratt is a long-time collaborator with Shamwari and was one of the producers of the 13-series Netflix hit, Shamwari Untamed. Told largely from the perspective of wildlife vet, Johan Joubert, and ecologist John O’Brien the series touches on nearly every aspect of managing a 250km2 reserve. A second series is in the pipeline.
During the Covid-19 lockdown he teamed up with Shamwari head ranger, Andrew Kearney, to start Shamwari TV. At first the intention was to showcase the wildlife and keep Shamwari top-of-mind while guests couldn’t visit. It proved such a success that nearly 300 episodes have now been filmed and it has a following of almost 40 000 people around the world. It can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/c/shamwaritv
Barratt’s award-winning documentary on Africa’s largest vulture relocation tells the story of the first phase of a project to secure the future of wild vulture populations in southern Africa, with the establishment of VulPro@Shamwari.
It documents the largest relocation of vultures ever undertaken, with 160 Cape and African White-backed vultures transported 1 042km from Hartebeespoort to bespoke enclosures at Shamwari. It can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/1Nj3IMyey9I?si=zVgVCeRA9_VipJvT
Barratt says while he’s grateful for the accolades and recognition of his work, awards are not why he makes wildlife films.
“For me it’s more about sharing my passion for the bush and wildlife and hopefully in the process getting more people to realise how precious these are and why it’s essential we conserve our natural heritage. I’ve been very lucky to have been able to work with Shamwari, which shares this ethos.”
