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00:00And now we have The Last Ranger from Six Feet Films.
00:04I'm here with director Cindy Lee
00:06and writer, producer, and editor Darwin Shaw.
00:10This story follows Keshelwa, a South African ranger,
00:15and Letha, a young aspiring ranger,
00:18as they try to protect Tandi,
00:20the white rhino from poachers.
00:22This is a human story led by female characters
00:26and it's raising awareness of vital issues.
00:30Before we get going, let's take a look at this clip
00:33about the making of the film.
00:36♪ Ahhhhhhh ♪
00:38♪ Ahhhhhhh ♪
00:42What do you think?
00:43♪ Ahhhhhhh ♪
00:47I was profoundly moved by this film
00:51on certain levels that are unexpected.
00:53♪ Flap, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop ♪
00:56And I do believe that this film
00:58must be seen by everyone.
01:00We had this idea of creating a project which reached around the world and told stories
01:06which would connect people, would find cultures which don't get an opportunity to speak and
01:10have their voice heard and tell powerful moving stories, bring them together about how connected
01:15we are.
01:16It's a story about loss, it's a story about heartbreak, it's a story about forgiveness
01:23and it just happens to be based around the story of conservation.
01:27This film is important because I want my children to be able to watch and experience
01:34these magnificent creatures.
01:36I think it's important to tell a story and show the world that they really are in danger.
01:42I've never really thought much about rhinos as much as I did.
01:47Truly when you look at it is that an animal could be extinct and I never thought I could
01:51be this affected by it.
01:53Bring the props, bring the actors, let's go.
01:55I knew that they had quite a precious thing in their hands.
01:58The main reason when we started this project was to save rhinos and I think it has grown
02:03so much bigger because it's like a human story, it's a South African story, it's a woman empowerment
02:08story.
02:09So many people can be inspired by it.
02:11And this proves that the world wants to watch South African stories.
02:15You cannot make this film anywhere else.
02:17It is uniquely South African and we are now one of the top five films in the world going
02:22into the Oscar nominations.
02:25Is there something particularly memorable that you will take away from this project?
02:29My experience was the best thing ever actually.
02:34I'm feeling glad actually, tears of joy.
02:44Aw, little Leah.
02:46Makes me cry every time.
02:49It's so sweet to see how much it meant to your actors to be part of this film, especially
02:56the little girl.
02:59So I heard that she's going to be at the Oscars.
03:01We were just talking about that just now, that's exciting.
03:04And I just want to congratulate you on your Oscar nomination.
03:07So that's wonderful.
03:11Cindy, let's start with you.
03:13So in the clip we saw you speak to this, but you talked about how it's a uniquely South
03:19African story.
03:20So tell us about that and what you wanted people to understand about South Africa from
03:26making this film.
03:27Well, you know, I mean, there's two different things there.
03:30Because, you know, the whole thing with the rhino poaching is really, really devastating.
03:35And it's quite surprising to know outside of South Africa how few people are really
03:39aware of what's going on in South Africa, that one rhino is poached every 15 hours and
03:44that the rangers are losing their lives.
03:48How many?
03:49A thousand rangers have lost their lives.
03:51But it's a lot.
03:52And it's going up all the time.
03:53You know, nothing is really being done to curb that.
03:56So there's that story.
03:57But it's also, it is uniquely South African.
04:00You know, it's told in one of the 11 official languages.
04:03It shows the beautiful landscape.
04:05It tells a uniquely South African story because of what happens when the little girls
04:10are left without their mothers at home to be looked after by the grandmother.
04:15And the father has to go and do the, he has to go and shoot the rhino.
04:18He has no other source of income.
04:20So there's so many little points that it touches to.
04:23So South Africa has reacted to this story way beyond what we could have expected.
04:28Not just because of the rhino poaching, but because South Africans are seeing themselves
04:32on the screen in their own language without the influence of some, you know, a foreigner
04:38coming in.
04:39And it's really, it's been overwhelming.
04:43The response has been absolutely incredible.
04:45Yeah.
04:46Can you tell me how you both came together to make this project and about the very
04:52beginning of it?
04:53Where was the germ of the idea to do this?
04:56Well, as you saw in the little clip, Will and I were collecting stories from around
05:00the world about how people were affected by the pandemic.
05:03And one of the people we met was David Lee, Cindy's brother.
05:07And he told us the story of Tandi.
05:09And he said, well, it's not just humans who are affected by the pandemic.
05:12It was animals.
05:13And we were just suddenly like, of course, this is a whole story and something really
05:18interesting.
05:19And that was the seed of the idea, because he had a feature he had written about this.
05:24And he basically told us that because there were no tourists coming to South Africa because
05:29of the pandemic, there was no money coming into the game reserves.
05:33So they couldn't afford to pay for the medical treatments or for the rangers to protect the
05:38animals.
05:39So we thought, well, that's the story.
05:41And then we developed that story, the whole short story of the last ranger, based around
05:46a ranger who's the last one left to protect the animals.
05:50So how true to life is the story of the ranger that you send to your story around?
05:57Because obviously, the subject matter is all too accurate and true.
06:03But I was sort of obsessed with this character of this woman.
06:08And she has these wonderful moments with Letha, the young girl, where she's kind of in this
06:14mentoring relationship.
06:16And Letha asks her, do you have your own babies?
06:20And she explains, the animals are my children.
06:23And she tells her, wild is good.
06:25And they have this beautiful interaction and this great dynamic.
06:31I wanted to kind of find out about how you settled on that as being your center.
06:37Was there a real woman behind this story?
06:41Well, there's a group called the Black Mambas, who is a women anti-poaching group in South
06:48Africa.
06:49So we were aware of that.
06:51And originally, the story was written from a male perspective.
06:54And we suddenly saw these women and what an incredible job they were doing.
06:58And we thought it would be fascinating to have that at the center.
07:03And then sort of naturally, we then thought, well, we don't see on screen mentorship of
07:09young girls in a very strong particular way.
07:12And we thought this would be amazing to sort of focus on this and get into the archetypes
07:17around mother nature and protection, but also in a very strong way.
07:22I mean, Koselwa is a ferocious and strong woman.
07:27And you have this little pure girl who kind of cracks the protection that she's put around
07:33herself.
07:34And I think that's what really draws everyone into the story.
07:37Yeah, it's a really powerful story.
07:39And as your producer said in the clip, it's a female empowerment story, 100%.
07:45The women are the heroes of the story.
07:47And I like that.
07:49So can we talk about casting?
07:52How did you find your actors?
07:55Yeah, you know, I mean, South Africa doesn't have the largest pool of actors to start with.
07:59And then we're casting in Issyk-Kosa.
08:03So our pool just got smaller.
08:04And then we're looking for an 11-year-old child.
08:06So our pool is literally like this big.
08:08But because it was during COVID, we got a whole lot of self-tapes that were coming in.
08:12And I must say, in the beginning, we were all quite worried because this little girl,
08:16we weren't finding her.
08:17And we realized the entire film rested on those tiny, tiny little shoulders.
08:21And because we don't have big film schools in South Africa,
08:24and we don't have the industry that the rest of the world seems to have,
08:27children don't understand not to act.
08:29So all these little kids were trying to act.
08:31You know, they were doing big acting.
08:32And nobody inherently understood the character.
08:35And then Leah Bonner's audition arrived in our inbox.
08:38And the minute we saw this audition, we all just started crying from relief,
08:44from how powerful her performance was.
08:47She understood this character.
08:48She has this intelligence, way beyond her years,
08:52to understand the words that she was saying.
08:55And we were like, how does she do that?
08:58And even in, I mean, I'm just like, look, I mean, it's like, oh, it's amazing.
09:02And even in her audition, she had this ability, and she's never acted before,
09:07and she had this ability to hold back without being told not to, you know,
09:13just hold it.
09:14Oh, anyway, so that was Leah Bonner.
09:16So when we saw her audition, we knew we had it.
09:18And then when we saw Abimele's audition, in the beginning,
09:22it took a little bit of convincing because she's just so beautiful and grand
09:26and gorgeous.
09:28You know, we had to make her kind of just,
09:30we had a little debrief with her and just get more inside herself and let
09:34the beauty go and find the strength.
09:38And the minute she got that right, we were like, well, there they are.
09:40And then when we put the two of them together, we knew we had a film.
09:43It was extraordinary.
09:46That was the thing, right?
09:47This was a long process of post-production,
09:50and it took so much work from so many people.
09:53But we knew that because of this performance of these two women,
09:57that we had something special.
09:59We just had to try and find a way to bring it to the front.
10:02I mean, the chemistry between them just feels,
10:05it feels like they've known each other forever.
10:08And that's a testament to their acting skills, of course,
10:12partly in its chemistry too.
10:14But there's that moment where, you know, the, the,
10:19I don't want to spoil it, but there's a, there's a denouement.
10:23Okay.
10:24Where I'm on the edge of my seat and I think I actually said, oh my God,
10:27out loud.
10:29But where everything just gets very, very real and very, very scary.
10:35And Lithia is crying.
10:38And it just feels so real.
10:41It feels like you're watching a documentary.
10:43I mean, that's really interesting you say that,
10:45because so many people describe this as a documentary when it's not
10:48documentary at all, because it is so honest.
10:52And the performance of the actors is so honest and it's such a true,
10:56and we were shooting with real rhinos.
10:58I mean, we got into the game reserve and we had five days to shoot this.
11:02There were wild lions coming around.
11:04We had to pile away from those.
11:06It was, it was very, very raw.
11:08And, you know, when you see what Lithia managed to do,
11:12Leobono, the actress, I've been acting for 20, 25 years.
11:16And there's no way I could do that.
11:18She was able in a 10 minute spot we had to shoot with the real rhino to
11:23walk in there,
11:24deliver that performance and then do 10 technical things.
11:28And she remembered them all.
11:30And we had two takes for everything.
11:32So, you know, it's really, I mean,
11:34Cindy kept the ship so tight because it was almost an impossible,
11:38you know, thing to achieve.
11:40And she did it.
11:41It was an incredible experience.
11:43We actually had four and a half days, Darwin.
11:45Yes.
11:47Let's not exaggerate.
11:51We got COVID on the first day and we lost half a day of filming,
11:54which was like brutal.
11:55Oh my goodness.
11:57I'm glad you brought up the animals because that was next for me is I
12:03have honestly so much jealousy that you got to work directly with these
12:07incredible animals. Can you tell me about that?
12:10And what are the wild cards when you're sort of trying to direct and
12:15produce a film on such a tight schedule with enormous,
12:20actually kind of scary unruly creatures walking
12:25around?
12:26Well, you know,
12:27I think we were really lucky because my brother went to school with the
12:30vet that saved Tundi's life.
12:32Cause in the video camera, when she's looking into the camera,
12:35that's the real rhino. And obviously at the end of the film,
12:38it's the real rhino. So in 2012, three rhinos were poached,
12:42one survived and the vet that saved her life, went to school with David.
12:46And that's what prompted my brother. That's what prompted the script.
12:48And then, so on the day he was there with us.
12:51So he was guiding us through the whole process.
12:54He was the one that darted the rhinos and the rhinos needed to be darted
12:58anyway. Each of them had a procedure.
13:00There were two different rhinos we filmed with.
13:02One was the little girl scene and the other one was the poacher scene.
13:05So now we've got to find the rhinos. We've got to dart the rhinos.
13:08We've got to track the rhinos. Then when we find where they go down,
13:12we have to put them down in a position that looks like the footage on the
13:16video camera twice. So that both rhinos look like they're the same rhino.
13:20They've gone down in the same place that looks like the same rhino on the
13:23video camera.
13:24I'm sorry, but I don't even know how you're...
13:27I know, right?
13:29And we're trying to piece together this battle.
13:32Because they all land here at different places.
13:35So we had to have this like 3D model of the whole game reserve and where the
13:39poachers would be and the angles. And, you know,
13:42what was also very interesting is Tandi was the first ever rhino to survive a
13:47poaching attack.
13:48So this is why she's so,
13:50so important because she has become a beacon of, of,
13:53of rhino conservation anti-poaching.
13:56So the vets were, when they were seeing the recreation of this,
14:00they all got really emotional, started crying. And these are like grizzled,
14:04you know, men who have been through everything.
14:06And suddenly they're weeping and they're trying to flip like 18 of us trying to
14:10turn a rhino onto its side. I mean,
14:13it was one of those things you'll never ever forget.
14:17It was really an incredibly powerful film to make. And, you know,
14:22what we have to just say is at the end, because, you know,
14:25in South Africa,
14:26there's a lot of work being done to raise awareness around rhino poaching.
14:30And there's some incredible documentaries out there and,
14:33and people doing amazing work on the ground, but often,
14:37unfortunately when these numbers and statistics come up,
14:39it just goes over people's heads.
14:41But what's so powerful about this film is that because you connect to these
14:44characters and you, all three of them, the leads and the rhino,
14:47you have such an incredible bond with them.
14:50Your heart is so wide open that at the end of the film,
14:53when those numbers come up,
14:54you just absorb them and you hang onto them and, you know,
14:58and they really stay with people. And that's the part,
15:00that's why this film is so powerful. But we want to just say, you know,
15:03we say at the end that Tandi has just fallen pregnant for the fifth time,
15:07but actually now she's just fallen pregnant for the sixth time.
15:11Oh, that's so wonderful.
15:13And she's a grandmother now as well.
15:16So we're very happy about that.
15:19I love how hopeful this story is,
15:21even in the midst of such sadness and struggle.
15:25It's really a story about hope.
15:28Exactly. And also like, you know,
15:31trying to get the youth involved is so important,
15:33especially in South Africa,
15:34because they're the ones who are going to be responsible going forward for
15:37a rhino.
15:38So if we can get them to understand that this land is theirs and that
15:42what's, you know, if we want there to be rhinos in the future,
15:45they have to be, they've got to, unfortunately,
15:48they've got to take that, that responsibility now and,
15:52and do something with it. So, yeah,
15:55that's exactly why this film is so important and why Learborn is so
15:58important.
15:59If there's one film you want to watch during this Oscar campaign,
16:03you know, you should really make it this, because, you know,
16:06in terms of the filmmaking and what Cindy's managed to put together,
16:09you don't see a short film, which tells a story like a feature.
16:13I mean, the amount of emotional,
16:15the journey you go through here was very,
16:17very difficult to construct because it's so big and, you know,
16:21there is action in it. It's like you're having, it's trans,
16:24it's just transports the audience to a different world.
16:27And I think just it's, it's a really, really joyful thing to watch.
16:32It's an incredibly effective film.
16:34And sad.
16:35And sad, yeah.
16:37It's incredibly affecting.
16:39And as you say,
16:40it plunges you straight into this very deeply emotional,
16:45visceral experience.
16:47And it's rare to find that in such a short space of time.
16:52And I really appreciate you both for being here to talk about this film
16:56and congratulations on your Oscar nomination.
16:59It's so well deserved. Thank you so much.
17:02Thank you for having us.
17:03Thank you very much. Thank you.