Amazon / Itunes 2020 – King of Beasts
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. Many hunters consider themselves conservationists, and animal lovers. They justify their right to hunt as central to the preservation of the species and defend the benefits of their concession fees. King of Beasts is an observational portrait that digs deeper, beyond sensationalism and politics, observing the facts and the many shades of the truth on the ground in Africa, in regards to wildlife and lion conservation efforts, amidst the ever declining animal populations. With intimate access and never before seen footage, the film question man’s very nature, as well as our place in the animal kingdom.
Interview with Director Tomer Almagor
Watch King of Beasts on Prime Video, iTunes and YouTube
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
When we learned that hunters around the world hunt wild lions for trophies we set out to make a film that will investigate and shed a light on the plight of wild lions in Africa. We're hoping that our film will be part of a long-term solution to protect lions and the entire wildlife eco-system in Africa.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Our film is experiential and unlike most documentaries, it has no sit-down talking heads interviews. Instead, with a vérité approach, we're entering the bush, following a hunter on a lion hunt. We hope that by taking this perspective we're able to transmit a stronger message on why trophy hunting should be restricted and banned in certain territories and why the international society needs to pay more attention to human-wildlife interactions. Considering we are in the midst of a pandemic that may or may not have been ignited by wildlife carriers. I think that we all now see that the conflict between humans and animals could have detrimental consequences for the species as well as our planet.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The film documents a personal quest of a group of hunters. It centers around one of our most powerful and mythical symbols - the African lion. Empires printed it on their flags and decorated their temples with statues of the lion. MGM branded the lion as their logo. Tribes have been hunting lions for thousands of years as part of their rite of passage ceremonies. But what once used to be a universal necessity, whether for protection or subsentence hunting, is now on the fringe and has been outcast as vanity sport. Furthermore, we all have factual knowledge about our world, but more often than not we let our feelings and opinions consume the best of our thinking. Our film is constructed to lay down the facts and let the individuals watching experience it and hopefully form an informed opinion. Our film is a portal in case anyone individual is looking to get deeper and more invested in the subject matter and put efforts into change.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Our film is a documentary feature. We spent eight years documenting and interviewing hunters, scientists, animal rights advocates, conservationists and politicians around the globe. Ultimately, very early on, we came to realize that the scope of this story is vast and complicated, man VS nature. Man VS the lion. Are we part of nature or apart from nature? In order to simplify our story and still include all of the elements, we were looking for one coherent narrative. We then wrote a treatment that follows one such trophy hunter as he goes out to the bush to hunt a lion. We weren't sure that we will find such a hunter, and after many rejections, Aaron Neilson agreed to be the main subject in our movie. When we came back from Africa, we knew that our film was in those tapes. Thus editing was a fairly quick process. The first time we showed it in public, was to a diverse group of about thirty people. They got angry, fascinated, disgusted, emotional, hating, loving the cinematic experience. The heated debate to follow the screening was over three hours, and at one point we had to separate angry parties from fist fighting. We knew right there that we've created a film that matters. A film that moves people to reaction and hopefully action.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback for the movie has been a mixed bag. We know the film is controversial to many and people got angry at us for working with trophy hunters and creating the film. At the same breath, everyone from reviewers to the audience responds strongly to the cinematic aspect and our perspective on the subject matter. At the end of the day, whether people love or hate the film, we would like as many people as possible to watch it.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The entire process has been challenging to stay the list, hate mail included. But we side with science. Until the international community comes together with sustainable solutions for wildlife and lions, trophy hunting is a necessary evil in some countries like Tanzania and should be ban in other countries. It should be banned everywhere, but like mentioned above - we need viable and sustainable programs to help the local communities while preserving the wildlife.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
While our film played many festivals, got awarded and is in distribution, we would still love to have more exposure. At this time, when we are all facing the ramifications of Covid-19 and having to struggle with our new reality, we should also pay a lot more attention to our relationships with nature and wildlife. Looking into the future, the way we treat nature will dictate whether we continue to survive on this planet or become extinct.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We would like journalists to cover and review the film, and we would like film festival directors to select it for their programming. We would also like more buyers and streamers to program the film to their platforms.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
The film speaks for its subject matter. That is all we could have hoped for.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Are we part or apart from nature? How do we see our future on this planet?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Gabrielle and I have been working on a slate of film at our company, Urban Tales Productions. We have a crime thriller and a dark comedy ready to go into production as soon as filming will reopen.
Interview: May 2020
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
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. Many hunters consider themselves conservationists, and animal lovers. They justify their right to hunt as central to the preservation of the species and defend the benefits of their concession fees. King of Beasts is an observational portrait that digs deeper, beyond sensationalism and politics, observing the facts and the many shades of the truth on the ground in Africa, in regards to wildlife and lion conservation efforts, amidst the ever declining animal populations. With intimate access and never before seen footage, the film question man’s very nature, as well as our place in the animal kingdom.
Director: Nadav Harel, Tomer Almagor
Producer: Gabrielle Almagor
Writer: Nadav Harel, Tomer Almagor
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 critically acclaimed 9 Full Moons with Amy Seimetz, Bret Roberts and Donal Logue. He also directed the lion documentary, 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 including his next project, Reciprocal Beat.
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 ALMAGOR is an award-winning producer with experience in packaging, development, production, post supervision, deliverables, distribution, and festival strategy. Her producing credits have won awards, nominations, and critical acclaim. Gabrielle strives to produce emotionally moving and purposeful stories. She believes the story is everything and the art of filmmaking is both a creative process and a life journey. Raised in a 3rd generation Hollywood family, she spent her early years on sets, working alongside her father and learning from showbiz legends Dick Clark, Bob Barker and Chuck Barris.
Looking for: journalists, buyers
Facebook: King of Beasts
Twitter: @KINGOFBEASTSdoc
Instagram: @kingofbeastsdocu
Hashtags used: #kingofbeasts #kobdocu #lions #africa #savethelions #trophyhunting
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: Urban Tales Productions
Funders: The New Fund for Cinema and Television, humane society
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Amazon