B A C K G R O U N D
It is the beginning of the COVID lockdown in South Africa.
Tourism has dried up in the Amakhala Game Reserve, leaving them unable to employ their rangers.
As a result, rhino poaching attacks have become an almost daily event.
L O G L I N E
When young Litha is introduced to the magic of a game reserve by the last remaining ranger, they are ambushed by poachers. In the ensuing battle to save the rhinos, Litha discovers that the desperate poacher is her father.
S Y N O P S I S
A Xhosa family living in the Eastern Cape struggles to make ends meet after the pandemic hits. When the father, Thabo leaves in the dead of night to find employment, his daughter, Litha decides to help. She heads to a nearby game reserve to sell wooden animals that her father has carved.
Litha meets a local game ranger, Khuselwa, who informs her that due to the virus, the reserve is closed and there are no tourists. Litha’s plan is thwarted. As a consolation, Khuselwa invites the girl to join her on her daily routine through the game reserve. It’s the best day of Litha’s life.
Khuselwa teaches Litha about her work while they watch three majestic rhinos drink from a watering hole. Suddenly, the mother rhino,Thandi, charges off into the bush. Khuselwa tells Litha to hide in the jeep as she grabs her gun and goes to investigate.
S Y N O P S I S
A party of poachers have tranquillised Thandi and it is Thabo, Litha’s father, who is the reluctant rifleman. The other poachers, Mickey and Jax, head down with a chainsaw for the horn.
Khuselwa gets in a gun battle to protect Thandi. But she gets distracted by Mickey cutting off Thandi’s horn and Jax shoots her in the chest. Litha runs from the truck to her dying friend. Seeing his daughter appearing through the bush, Thabo is overtaken with guilt and redeems himself by shooting Jax and Mickey from the hilltop.
When Thabo gets down to the massacre he is faced with his grieving daughter who has found the poachers pistol. Litha turns to see her father approaching, and enraged by her father’s complicity in this horror, raises the pistol at him…
Will Thandi survive? Can Litha forgive her father for the death of her best friend?
P O A C H I N G
Rhinos are facing extinction with about 16800 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.
Rhino horn is falsely peddled around the world as a supplement for enhanced virility.
There is no factual basis to this claim as it is made of keratin, which is commonly found in hair and nails and has no medicinal value.
T H E P L A C E
T H E T E A M
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DAVID S. LEE / WRITER, ACTOR & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
David grew up in South Africa, studying theater and film acting. He now resides in Los Angeles where he has appeared in blockbuster projects such as Blood Diamond, Get Smart and Black Panther. He wrote The Last Ranger and is playing the character of Dr. Robert Stratton.
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CINDY LEE / DIRECTOR
Cindy was nominated for a SAFTA (South African Film and Television Award) for her television directing debut of the drama series "Sober Companion". In 2018 she directed three episodes of Showmax's original drama, "The Girl From St. Agnes". The series was launched in January, 2019 to rave reviews. Cindy is currently in post production for “Desert Rose”, a new 8 part drama series she directed for MNET.
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ADAM THAL / LOCAL PRODUCER
Established in 2003 by Adam Thal and Ryan Poole, Star Films is a highly respected South African production company that will produce The Last Ranger.
Adam’s early focus on animal documentaries make him a perfect partner for this story.
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DR. WILLIAM FOWLDS / CO-OWNER, PRODUCER
Will is a wild life veterinarian, founder of the Amakhala game reserve and heads the African Rhino Conservation Collaboration. He travels the world sharing his personal testimony of the brutal reality of poaching as well as his on the ground mission to bring back rhino from the brink of death through his pioneering veterinary care.
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THOMAS MUTUKWA / ANTI-POACHING INSTRUCTOR & ADVISOR
With over a decade of experience as a sergeant field ranger at the Amakhala game reserve, Thomas provides first hand knowledge about the reality and dangers of protecting the reserve from poachers. He is a specialist in tracking, firearms and bush craft.
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SISEKO MAYINJE / PILOT
Born and raised on the Amakhala game reserve, Siseko is the senior pilot of Amakhala’s Anti-Poaching Unit (APU). His work greatly extends the range of the APU’s conservation efforts.
T H E C A S T
Liyabona Magazi - "Litha"
Avumile Qongqo - "Khuselwa"
David S. Lee - "Robert"
Makhoala Ndebele - "Thabo"
Kamogelo Ndawo - "Older Litha"
Waldemar Schultz - "Mickey"
Sikhumbuzo Sibisis - "Jax"
Nompumelo Vanqa - "uGogo"
Antiviral Film Project Founders
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DARWIN SHAW
A former ER doctor from London, Shaw trained at LAMDA in Classical Theatre before being cast in a variety of feature films, including CASINO ROYALE, PRINCE OF PERSIA, PROMETHEUS, SON OF GOD and JOHN CARTER. He also notably played Saint Peter in the Emmy nominated television series, THE BIBLE.
Since moving to Los Angeles, he has starred in Netflix’s HOUSE OF CARDS and MARCO POLO, Showtime’s HOMELAND and THE BORGIAS, Lifetime’s THE RED TENT and Marvel’s AGENTS OF SHIELD.
He has been training with director Stephen Surjik on Netflix’s UMBRELLA ACADEMY.
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WILLIAM HAWKES
Hawkes has been working as an actor and director for over 10 years with TV roles in GRIMM, BIG LITTLE LIES and THE POLITICIAN and in the indy film hits SUN VALLEY and FIRST COMES LIKE.
His most recent directorial project, R.V – a story centering on women’s reproductive rights - won numerous festival awards, had a viral campaign that saw over half a million views and partnered with the Reproductive Health Access Project.
Hawkes is a consultant for Nanocrowd, an audience analytics tool with clients in the Big 6.
Pandemic-Themed ‘Antiviral Film Project’
Launches From Darwin Shaw, Will Hawkes (EXCLUSIVE)
The coronavirus pandemic has not deterred Los Angeles-based actor-filmmakers Darwin Shaw and Will Hawkes.The duo has launched “The Antiviral Film Project” in recent weeks as a collage of 19 shorts made by 19 film crews from 19 global communities for 19 charities, leading to three films that will be produced in traditional fashion once self-isolation ends.
“The Antiviral Film Project aims to create a new kind of international motion picture anthology about the global COVID-19 experience,” said Shaw. “It will be a journey told in three chapters — Isolation, Connection and Emergence.
Other potential segments lined up include a story of rival gangs in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa, having joined together during the pandemic; the emergence of a rap music scene among the emergence of a rap music scene among the Mapuche Indians in Chile; and a Ugandan filmmaker who makes films on his own for Ethiopian Airlines.
Make a difference.
Your generous contribution to support this film will help our efforts to save these endangered creatures and raise awareness for the Amakhala Game Reserve and their mission of conservation.