Aaron, an American hunter, enters the dark heart of the African bush, on a surreal neocolonial expedition, emulating 1000s of years of indigenous rite of passage rituals, as he hunts the ultimate trophy - the king of beasts.

Interview with Director Tomer Almagor

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

When I realized that people were still hunting lions for vanity trophies while the numbers of wild lions are dwindling, I had to go and investigate this world of trophy hunting and understand why people would want to go and kill such magnificent and beautiful rare animals.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

My film goes deeper beyond headlines and sensationalism and is an experiential viewing experience that sheds light on a little known sub-culture. If you care for the future of wildlife and the future of our planet or are simply interested in getting a deeper understanding of the reasons why people hunt rare animals for trophies, you would be interested in King Of Beasts.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

Wild lions have been a universal symbol of strength throughout human history. As we go after a lion hunter and learn about his personal experiences and reasons for hunting lions we also get the bigger picture and dire straights present and future of the African wildlife eco-systems.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

King Of Beasts is a documentary feature, so while we did have a screenplay going into the project, as we kept on filming, our film took on various shapes. The narrative of our story slowly became apparent - we were going to take our viewers on a lion hunt and let the audience experience it, ponder about it, and make up their own minds on whether they agree with this practice or not.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

The film seems to be sending the audience in many different directions, opening people up to think about the past, present and future of humanity. Think about our history, and how we evolve as individuals and society as a whole. Overall it provokes a healthy dialogue about the nature of man and the future of wildlife and wild lions.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

The film is delivered to provoke and open the stage for exploration and questions after its viewing. thus the feedback did not surprise me nor does it challenges my point of view.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

The hope is that the film can somehow help open up or is an addition to the global discussion and aid to protect our wildlife for future generations. Thus we hope that the film will be seen by as many people as possible.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

Buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists people that will understand the film and see its intentions and will champion the film through their platforms.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

The film is very clear and shines a light on little known facts about wild lion trophy hunting and the future of wildlife. With that said, my hope is that the film is an opening statement for a deeper discussion about the future of our wildlife and where do we want to be as a global society in the near and far future.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Are we part of nature or apart of nature?

King Of Beasts directors Nadav Harel and Tomer Almagor

Would you like to add anything else?

The journey to make this film has had a profound impact on my perspective of life, our world and the people in it. This journey changed me, and in many ways got me confused about the why? But deep inside I'm still optimistic and think that we are the sum of choices we make. We can choose to hurt or to heal. It is our choice to make each and every moment we breathe. My hope is that more of us can see how to choose to heal.

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Our producer, Gabrielle, and I are working on our next project together, a gangster crime thriller titled Reciprocal Beat.

Interview: March 2019

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

King Of Beasts

Length: 1:26:00

Director: Tomer Aalmagor, Nadav Harel

Producer: Gabrielle Almagor

Writer: Tomer Aalmagor, Nadav Harel

About the writer, director and producer:

TOMER ALMAGOR was born in Israel and has traveled extensively, Tomer’s short film played festivals and won awards. He wrote and directed the feature film 9 Full Moons with Amy Seimetz, Bret Roberts and Donal Logue and the documentary feature, King Of Beasts. Based out of Los Angeles, he is an accomplished screenwriter and the creative director at Urban Tales, where he has been developing a slate of films.

NADAV HAREL is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Israel. Nadav’s shorts and TV work screened worldwide in high venues such as BBC World, Museum of Natural History NY, Harvard Medical School, Berlin Film Festival, SBS, YLE, CH8, and Museum of Modern Art NY.

Gabrielle is CEO and the lead producer of Urban Tales Productions, Inc. and partner of Urban Tales Casting. Her short films, amongst others Nebraska and My Terrorist Dad, were featured at Cannes and Sundance. In 2013 Gabrielle produced the award-winning feature film 9 Full Moons (Amy Seimetz, Harry Dean Stanton). In 2016 she released the comedy Swing State (Billy Zane, Sean Astin, Elaine Hendrix) and the documentaries America Recycled and A Place Of Truth. She is currently in post-production on the feature documentary King Of Beasts, while producing a slate of features and TV shows in different stages of development; Wake Up Call, The Big Score, directed by Scott Rosenfelt (Home Alone, Mystic Pizza) with Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine) and John Leguizamo (John Wick, Moulin Rouge) and Blanco, Mort In Sherman Oaks, with Keir Gilchrist (Netflix: Atypical), Our Story, directed by Don Scordino (30 Rock) with Malcolm McDowell.

Gabrielle is also a partner in Urban Tales casting with Shannon Makhanian. Together they have cast 1st Born (Val Kilmer), The Long Shadow, The Bay House, Barefoot Warrior and TV shows Real Rob (Netflix, Rob Schneider) and America (Rani Sa’ar, Morris Cohen- Israeli TV) and others currently in production.

Key cast: Aaron Neilson

Looking for: journalists, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, producers

Facebook: King of Beasts

Twitter: @KINGOFBEASTSdoc

Instagram: @kingofbeastsdocu

Hashtags used: #kingofbeaststhemovie

Website: www.urbantalesproductions.com

Other: IMDb

Made in association with: New Foundation for Cinema and Television, The Humane Society

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? AMdocs Film Festival - 4/3, Slamdance / Arclight monthly programs 8/12, AMAZON, ITUNES