Education through Film
"Imagine a place where some people have never seen the sea, or a desert or a forest (or even a picture of one), while others are glued to their satellite televisions, revealing the world to them in minute detail. How would you persuade all these people that collectively their actions can affect - negatively or positively - the wellbeing of the whole world?" (AEFF)
The African Environmental Film Foundation was founded by renowned cinematographer Simon Trevor. After years of wildlife filmaking on the Hollywood level, Simon decided it was time that the wildlife benefitted from the results, so he started the non-profit AEFF-- with the benefit of 30 years of footage from various parks in Tanzania.
The AEFF produces education films about envrionmental issues in AFrica, for the people of Africa, in their own languages. The films are distributed free of charge and have been watched by millions of people.
WildiZe provided funds toward production costs toward the making of RUNNING DRY, a film about the relationship between forests and deforestation and rainfall along with other key water issues of major importance in Kenya and indeed futher afield in Africa. WildiZe presents several of AEFF's films through our mobile film unit to rural communities throughout Kenya and Tanzania.
Project website: http://africanenvironmentalfilms.squarespace.com/
- ©Photo courtesy of AEFF
AEFF's major new project, currently underway, is a series of half-hour films, under the heading "Inspiration". Each film focuses on a particular individual (or small organization) who is doing something positive for conservation and the environment, with a view to improving their community's quality of life, and preserving biodiversity. These people or organizations are presented as role models, and will illustrate that even a single person or a small local project can have an impact and make a difference.
As a whole, the series will cover a broad range of environmental issues, and show ways of dealing with them, from the rural village level to government level. For example, the people featured may range from a rural villager who is planting trees or looking after the coral reefs in his / her area, to the Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service who is operating at a policy level.
Read more detail about individual "Inspiration" films Keystone Issues currently in production and meet the people feature therein: http://africanenvironmentalfilms.squarespace.com/inspiration-films
