The Unlikely Leopard

This is a coming of age story of a young male leopard. The film follows him from a few weeks old, to when he has to leave his mother and learn how to use his instincts in order to survive.

Director: Dereck & Beverly Joubert

Dereck and Beverly Joubert are National Geographic Explorers in Residence. They are well-known, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana, whose mission is to conserve and understand the big cats of Africa. They are the founders of the Big Cat Initiative with National Geographic. BCI has over 20 projects in 7 countries as a result, and has become a major force in conservation of big cats, as well as placing the plight of these cats firmly into the spotlight. Last year they added a 6th Emmy and a Lifetime Achievement award in Japan, to their list that includes a Peabody, Panda’s for best films, and just about every award in the documentary film business. They have been filming, researching, and exploring in Africa for over 30 years. They have done 25 films for National Geographic in that time and 11 books, half a dozen scientific papers, and many articles for National Geographic magazine. They have been awarded the World Ecology Award, alongside Prince Charles, Richard Leakey and been inducted into the American Academy of Achievement. They were recently given the Presidential Order of Meritorious Service by the president of Botswana. Also in the past year, “The Last Lions,” distributed by National Geographic Entertainment, won best theatrical film at the Jackson Hole film festival and is considered to have reached 350 million people. They have had photographic exhibitions around the world, from London to New York in an attempt to raise awareness for big cats. Filmmaking for the Jouberts has always been a way to bring the message of conservation to audiences, but they are also more hands on. They have been active in anti poaching work, reintroducing rhinos and cats into the wild, and more recently, Dereck became CEO of Great Plains Conservation, a company they co own with partners like the Society to bring together conservation, communities and conservation tourism, to fund large tracts of land, that today total about 1.8 million acres in Africa. Their efforts, as filmmakers, with the Big Cats Initiative and with Great Plains, coincide with one aim: to save the wild places of Africa, and to protect the wild creatures that depend on them. The President of Botswana recently said it well: Theirs is a life long passion; for each other, for big cats, for Africa...they are true ‘children of Africa.’

South Africa
2012
52 Min.
English
7
Director: Dereck & Beverly Joubert
Script: Dereck Jouber
Cinematography: Dereck Joubert
Editing:
Music: JB Arthur
Narrator: Jeremy Irons
Editor: Susan Scott
Awards: Best Cinematography 2013
Nominations: Best Story 2013,
Best Cinematography 2013