The documentary Besmet is a harrowing exposé on lion poisoning.
In the 1990s, a pride of lions in the Maasai Mara reserve in Kenia endeared themselves to millions of television viewers worldwide. These kings and queens of the jungle and their offspring were the stars of the popular BBC wildlife programme Big Cat Diary. So, in 2015, their fans were shocked to hear that three of these lions – Bibi, Siena and Alan – were poisoned by herdsmen.
Sadly, their horrific deaths were not an isolated incident. Neither does lion poisoning only happen outside of our South African borders. The number of lions in our country is decreasing rapidly as our big cats are killed by a type of poison that is readily available.
While the lions from the Marsh pride were poisoned to protect livestock, lions in the Kruger National Park and other bushveld areas are killed and then slaughtered with a different motive: Their body parts are used for muti and traditional medicine.
With the Silwerskerm Film Festival documentary Besmet, producer Sean O’Neill and director and scriptwriter Pieter Steyn expose this massive and complex problem which has turned into a war between conservation and culture.
Pieter is a journalist and newshound through and through. He has worked at all major Afrikaans newspapers and is currently a content consultant for the kykNET current-affairs programme Prontuit. Besmet is Pieter’s first documentary.
Knowing Pieter’s background, it’s not difficult to understand why he finds organised crime fascinating. The desire to make a documentary about lion poaching originated after he had read a report on the topic by The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. The story and photographs were heartbreaking.
With the festival’s new mentorship programme for documentary filmmakers and producer Sean’s 23-year experience in the film and television industry, Pieter could create the film to raise awareness about the lion poisoning on our doorstep.
Sean’s passion and forté is wildlife programmes, and his impressive curriculum vitae includes productions for Nat Geo Wild, Animal Planet and Smithsonian Channel.
Sean and Pieter concur that the media and authorities are not giving lion poaching the attention it deserves. If this doesn’t change, this majestic species might become extinct.
In Pieter’s words: “Lion poaching is far easier than killing rhinos, elephants and pangolins. We might only find these animals in museums in the future.”
Besmet premieres at the 11th kykNET Film Festival on Wednesday, 23 August, at 12:30. It will also be screened on kykNET and will be available on Showmax later this year.