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Milking the Rhino

Emerging from a century of "white man conservation," which turned their lands into game reserves and fueled resentment towards wildlife, Himba and Maasai communities are now vying for a piece of the wildlife-tourism pie.

A ferocious kill on the Serengeti… dire warnings about endangered species… These clichés of nature documentaries ignore a key feature of the landscape: villagers just off-camera, who navigate the dangers and costs of living with wildlife on a daily basis. When seen at all, rural Africans are often depicted as the problem – they poach animals and encroach on habitat, they spoil our myth of wild Africa.

Milking the Rhino tells a more nuanced tale of human-wildlife coexistence in post-colonial Africa. The Maasai tribe of Kenya and Namibia’s Himba – two of Earth’s oldest cattle cultures – are in the midst of upheaval. Emerging from a century of “white man conservation,” which turned their lands into game reserves and fueled resentment towards wildlife, Himba and Maasai communities are now vying for a piece of the wildlife-tourism pie.

Community-based conservation, which tries to balance the needs of wildlife and people, has been touted by environmentalists as “win-win.” The reality is more complex. “We never used to benefit from these animals,” a Maasai host of a community eco-lodge explains. “Now we milk them like cattle!” His neighbor disagrees: “A rhino means nothing to me! I can’t kill it for meat like a cow.” And when drought decimates the grass shared by livestock and wildlife, the community’s commitment to conservation is sorely tested.

Charting the collision of ancient ways with Western expectations, Milking the Rhino tells intimate, hopeful and heartbreaking stories of people facing deep cultural change.

Filmmakers

Executive Producer for ITVS

Sally Jo Fifer

photography

Jason Longo

Location Sound Recording

Richard K. Pooler

Original Music

Mark Bandy

Narrator

Munyikombo Bukusi

Co-Producer

Rehad Desai

Development Assistance

Julie F. Simpson

Associate Producer

Xan Aranda

Associate Editor

Liz Kaar

Editing Consultant

Gordon Quinn

Technical Supervision

Jim Morrissette

Additional Music

Joel Diamond

Additional Camera/Sound

David E. Simpson

Additional Editing

Aaron Wickenden

Archival Research

Carolyn Faber

Location Guides/Fixers

Boas Hambo
Etosha Karutjaiua
Nancy Kireu

Translation

Silas Kimerei
Manfred Tjitjo
Gerson Kapi
John Kasaona
Kimberly Eggert

Narration Recording Engineer

Lou Malozzi (Experimental Sound Studio)

Audio Mix

Mark Bandy

Digital Color Correction

Nolo Digital Film

Tape Capture & Conversions

Global Video LLC

Title & Graphics

Dizzy Giant
Dan Sharkey
Matt Sharkey

Online Editor

Steve Hullfish (Media Process Group)

Production Support Staff

Jennie Gambach
Justine Nagan
Zak Piper
Joanna Rudnick

Bookkeeping

Yvonne Afable
Pam Diaz

Additional Transcription

Dorothee Royal-Hedinger
Ashley Barnes
Jennifer Brandel
John Kostka
Carol Martori

Archival Footage

Budget Films
Fred MacDonald Archive
Library of Congress
National Geographic
Smithsonian Institution
South African National Film & Video Archive
WPA

Major Funders

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Illinois Arts Council

Media

Awards and Distinctions

Angkor Wat Film Festival

Official Selection

2012

Best of Doxa Documentary Film Festival

Distinction

Opening Night Selection

2010

Documentary Edge Festival (New Zealand)

Official Selection

2010

International Documentary Film Festival (New Zealand)

Official Selection

2010

Kansas City International Film Festival

Winner

Audiece Award (Best Documentary)

2010

London International Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection

2010

Phoenix Film Festival

Winner

Best Documentary (World Cinema Category)

2010

Reframe Peterborough International Film Festival (Ontario)

Official Selection

2010

Tallahassee Film Festival

Official Selection

2010

World Mountain Discovery Fest of Qinghai China

Winner

Best Photography

2010

American Conservation Film Festival (WV)

Official Selection

2009

Berkshires International Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Boston International Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Calgary International Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Cambofest (Cambodia)

Official Selection

2009

Cinema Planeta Festival (Mexico)

Official Selection

2009

Cleveland International Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Cottonwood Creek Environmental Film Festival (California)

Winner

Best Documentary

2009

Doxa Documentary Festival (Canada)

Official Selection

2009

Dutch Environmental Film Fesitval

Official Selection

2009

El Sawy International Film Festival (Egypt)

Official Selection

2009

Environmental Film Festival (Yale University)

Official Selection

2009

Filmfestivalen Vera (Finland)

Official Selection

2009

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Globians Doc Fest (Berlin)

Official Selection

2009

Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Honolulu International Film Festival

Winner

Silver Lei Award

2009

Hot Docs

Official Selection

2009

Jerusalem International Film Festivakl (Isreal)

Official Selection

2009

Ojai-Ventura Interntional Film Festival (California)

Official Selection

2009

One World Film Festival (Canada)

Official Selection

Opening Night Selection

2009

Oxdox International Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Pan African Film Festival

Winner

Director's Award: Best Documentary Feature

2009

Parmu Interntional Film Festival (Estonia)

Official Selection

2009

Parnu International Film Festival (Estonia)

Official Selection

2009

Planet Indigenous Festival (Toronto)

Official Selection

2009

Planete Doc Review (Poland)

Official Selection

2009

Portland International Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Rodos International Film and Visual Arts Festival (Greece)

Official Selection

2009

San Luis Obispo International Film Festival

Winner

Best Documentary Feature

2009

Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Sedona International Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Tales from Planet Earth Film Festival (UW)

Official Selection

2009

United Nations Association Film Festival

Winner

Best Cinematography

2009

Washington D.C. Environmental Film Festival

Official Selection

2009

Wild Cinema (Nambia)

Official Selection

2009

Yosemite Film Festival

Winner

Best Nature Documentary

2009

Zakgrebdox (Croatia)

Official Selection

2009

Barbados International Film Festival

Official Selection

2008

Chicago Humanities Festival

Official Selection

2008

International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)

Official Selection

2008

Reeltime Independent Film & Video Forum

Official Selection

2008

Santa Fe Film Festival

Official Selection

2008

The Backlot Festival, Suriname

Official Selection

2008

Tricontinental Film Festival

World Premiere

2008