Saving Rhino Phila

Far from the tranquil wilderness of her birth, Phila’s story lures us into the bizarre world of organized crime and millionaire poachers, where nothing is as it seems and everyone has a secret agenda.

Director: Richard Slater Jones

36-year-old Richard Slater-Jones is a freelance Producer/ Director, specializing in prime-time documentary television for the likes of the BBC Natural History Unit, National Geographic Television & Film, PBS, Channel 4 and Animal Planet.
Born and bred in Johannesburg, South Africa, Richard studied Zoology at the University of Witwatersrand before moving into the film industry. He splits his time between his home in Cape Town, some of the remotest corners of the world while on assignment, and the edit suites of New York, Washington DC, Johannesburg, Bristol and London.
Although Africa is his stamping ground, Richard has directed films from the depths of the Amazon jungle and volcano's of the Indian Ocean islands, to the Vatican in Rome and temples of Indonesia. He is currently directing a featuresque documentary on rhino poaching called "Saving Rhino Phila," which he has secret ambitions of seeing on big screens across the planet.
Over the last decade, Richard has made his mark in wildlife documentary television, but is increasingly looking towards the quirky and dark side of human nature for his documentary subjects. In many ways frustrated with mainstream broadcast documentary television, he is pursuing projects that can reach a wider audience, tell braver stories and constantly push the envelope beyond the levels that some broadcasters are comfortable with, but audiences are yearning for.
In his spare time Richard distracts himself with skydiving, frightens the bejesus out of himself with his kiteboard, finds meditative space while freediving, and learns life lessons from his 2-year-old daughter, Ona Martine.

South Africa
2011
52 Min.
English
7
Director: Richard Slater Jones
Script:
Cinematography: Dale Hancock; Alex Sletten
Editing: Katherine Pienaar
Music: Audio Networks
Narrator: Edward Obita
Editor: Katherine Pienaar
Nominations: Best Story 2012