Wildscreen Festival Tanzania Filmmaker Case Studies: Jigar Ganatra
In the first in a series of Tanzanian filmmaker case studies, we meet Jigar Ganatra, Co-founder and Chair of AFRISOS.
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Meet Sam – Our Volunteer Admin Assistant!
1. Tell us a bit about your role!
I started in 2021 as a volunteer admin assistant, just helping out with general little bits of admin that needed to be done. We had a lot of online webinars so I was always checking over the lists to make sure members were members and non-members were buying tickets. I also helped to moderate the sessions. After that I kind of gravitated more into an editing role, which is what I’m doing at the moment. I edit all the webinars and the current Q&A sessions before they get uploaded onto YouTube.
2. How did you get to where you are today?
I got my degree from Falmouth University in Marine & Natural History Photography, graduating from that in 2020. I’ve been a wildlife photographer and just been really into the wildlife industry and the wildlife TV industry as a whole which is ultimately what gravitated me to volunteer for the role at Wildscreen. Outside of this I’m a freelance video editor.
3. What motivates you?
For me it’s the sheer passion I have for the natural environment and the natural world. I’ve had it since I was a kid and it’s kind of just grown with me for many years. I’ve got a passion for storytelling. Like I said I did my degree in Marine and Natural History Photography, that’s where I discovered post production. For me that’s the most creative part of the filmmaking process and it’s where the story ultimately comes together.
4. If you could change one thing about the natural history industry, what would it be?
That’s a tough one. I think it’s been brought up on quite a-lot of different platforms but the inclusivity within the natural history industry needs to be a bit more inclusive, a bit more diverse. I think a good step forward would definitely be to diversify the talent.
5. What are your career goals?
When I first found post production at uni I definitely thought this is it for me, this is perfect, just set from day one. So yeah, just looking to go down that career path in post production.
6. Favourite moment working at Wildscreen?
The Wildscreen Festival, it has to be. It was incredible. I volunteered during it doing social media, but I also had the opportunity to do edits for the Panda Awards and Q&A sessions with Lizzie Daly who just grabbed random people off the street in to chat. That was just definitely a highlight of mine during the festival, it was brilliant.
7. What’s your favourite story from nature?
I’m a bit of a bird watcher, I love birds. It’s kind of where my passion stemmed from, bird watching, and it’s kind of come with me so I’ve seen many sequences and many stories on the wandering Albatrosses of the southern ocean and they’re just absolutely fantastic. Sea birds are my all time favourite so whenever I see an Albatross story on TV I’m just so captivated by it.
8. Describe working for Wildscreen in three words!
Rewarding. Exciting. Inspiring.
9. If you could turn into any animal for a day, what would you be?
Absolutely 100% a Gannet. There’s no need to even think about that answer, they are my absolute all time favourite bird. I love them. I go to Bempton Cliffs every June where there is half a million breeding seabirds and most of them are gannets. I just have the absolute best time, it’s my favourite place on earth.
10. What’s a fun fact about you?
I used to suffer from severe arachnophobia but I took a-lot of time to overcome it and get better, I kind of self healed myself from it through exposure therapy and intensive research. If they jump on me though…
