{"id":794992,"date":"2026-07-12T06:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T06:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/794992\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T06:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T06:37:10","slug":"the-south-african-trailblazers-seeking-to-change-how-wildlife-documentaries-are-made-nature-documentaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/794992\/","title":{"rendered":"The South African trailblazers seeking to change how wildlife documentaries are made | Nature documentaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Pragna Parsotam-Kok and Noel Kok made a wildlife series for South African TV in 2015, they were struck by how challenging it was to access animals to film and how few other African wildlife documentary makers there were.<\/p>\n

Their response was to set up the not-for-profit Nature Environment and Wildlife Conservation Trust (NEWF) and to host a conference for African wildlife film-makers, the first taking place in 2017.<\/p>\n

But the following year the couple were unable to find any African underwater film-makers to speak on a panel about oceans. While searching, they also realised how many marine biologists on the continent could not swim, let alone scuba dive.<\/p>\n

The couple organised NEWF\u2019s first dive \u201clab\u201d for film-makers and scientists in 2019. The 10 attenders were the first fellows in a now nearly 400-strong cohort, from 37 African countries and 13 more in the global south, as the Koks seek to change how wildlife documentaries are made.<\/p>\n

Noel Kok on a dive in the Indian Ocean with NEWF explorers in Sodwana Bay, South Africa. Photograph: Jahawi Bertolli\/National Geographic<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to joke that black African nature, environment and wildlife film-makers were rarer than most of the species scientists and conservationists were trying to protect on the continent,\u201d said Noel Kok.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we were excluded from telling the stories of Africa\u2019s wildlife, for me, it just felt like they were just not authentic,\u201d he said. \u201cThe stories were not complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 200 divers have now been trained in Sodwana Bay on South Africa\u2019s northeast coast, home to Africa\u2019s southernmost tropical coral reefs. Hundreds of fellows have also been trained in wildlife film-making on land at Bayala, a private game reserve.<\/p>\n

\"NEWFNEWF filmmakers shoot underwater footage<\/p>\n

In 2021, NEWF added composition workshops. \u201cOne of my biggest frustrations is the lion chasing the buck on the African plain, Mozart and his 50-piece orchestra going crazy in the background,\u201d said Kok. \u201cWe love Mozart and Beethoven \u2026 but music should be representative of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noel Kok (right) and Nkosi, a fellow of NEWF, during a cinematography lab. Photograph: Anthony Ochieng Onyango\/National Geographic<\/p>\n

Two years later, the music for a National Geographic film<\/a> about Botswana\u2019s Okavango Delta, composed by NEWF fellows including Okavango local musician Koolkat Motyiko<\/a>, won best original score<\/a> at the Jackson Wild film festival, beating Hans Zimmer\u2019s score for David Attenborough\u2019s Frozen Planet II.<\/p>\n

In 2019, the Koks met local diver Silindile Mbuyazi. Mbuyazi wanted to dive to find the body of her brother, who drowned in Sodwana Bay in 2015. She started learning with a tourism company in 2018, defying her community\u2019s warnings about a seven-headed snake lurking beneath the waves.<\/p>\n

Mbuyazi never found her brother, but discovered a whole new world, including a green turtle she recognised as her grandmother, who raised her and died in 2010. \u201cI found myself,\u201d Mbuyazi, now 37, said. \u201cI fell in love in the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

NEWF instructor Silindile Mbuyazi giving a dive briefing with Noel Kok and Pragna Parsotam-Kok. Photograph: Jahawi Bertolli\/National Geographic<\/p>\n

Mbuyazi, known affectionately as Mama Sli, began teaching diving with NEWF in 2022. She and the Koks recognised they needed their own base, in part to cut costs and to be able to host longer workshops.<\/p>\n

That year, NEWF secured annual funding of $1m-$1.5m (\u00a3747,000-\u00a31.1m) from National Geographic for Africa Refocused<\/a>, a five-year programme of workshops, residencies and for building a dive and film-making centre in Sodwana Bay.<\/p>\n

\"NEWFNEWF filmmakers in the field<\/p>\n

Mbuyazi, who has taught more than 150 NEWF fellows to dive, proposed a partnership, with the centre built on her grandmother\u2019s land. eKhaya, meaning \u201chome\u201d in Zulu, opened in November 2023 and has an editing suite, a 3.5-metre dive pool and 12 rooms for fellows.<\/p>\n

In mid-June, eKhaya was a hive of activity. An induna (a traditional Zulu official) and his entourage were being given a tour. A group of musicians was holed up in the recording studio, rehearsing for a performance at the National Geographic Explorers festival in Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Nkosi updates Noel Kok and Pragna Parsotam-Kok on advanced underwater training for Husna Amimu, a Tanzanian NEWF fellow. Photograph: Anthony Ochieng Onyango\/National Geographic<\/p>\n

Local interns were learning to swim, taught by staff who had only learned themselves last year. Later they will learn to dive. NEWF currently has 30 interns, its second 12-month cohort, working on self-driven projects ranging from volunteering with elderly locals to rock pool research.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Koks are negotiating new National Geographic funding and have aspirations for everything from buying a dive boat to building a six-person fellows\u2019 house in Bayala.<\/p>\n

Soon after dawn the next day, Ethiopian film-maker Elshadye Berhanu crouched on the side of an adapted safari vehicle, her lens trained on six cheetahs \u2013 two mothers, each with two juvenile cubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very uncommon to see two female cheetahs bonding together and raising their children,\u201d said Berhanu, who was on a two-month NEWF residency to work on a film about the cheetahs, as well as one about Mbuyazi, which is due to be finished this year.<\/p>\n

Noel Kok and Pragna Parsotam-Kok with NEWF fellows during a cinematography lab at Bayala reserve. Photograph: Anthony Ochieng Onyango\/National Geographic<\/p>\n

Berhanu said she had gained invaluable practical and creative experience since first attending a one-week NEWF workshop in November 2024. \u201cWith the cheetahs\u2019 story, when I\u2019m staying with them, I understand each and every part of it \u2013 it\u2019s very deep,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing able to film that, from your eyes, it just makes me happy.\u201d<\/p>\n