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Wildscreen Festival Botswana – Day Two Round Up
And just like that, Day 2 is done! And what a day it was! Scriptwriting, Cinematography, how collaboration across continents can be feasible and, of course, WildPitch 2025!
A huge thank you to all of our wonderful speakers and sponsors, but for now, let’s reflect on day two and all the fascinating conversations that were had. Read on to find out our highlights!
Quotes of the Day! |
“No matter what field you are in, the most important thing is to always be a storyteller” Brad Bestelink, NHFU Botswana “You need a diverse group of people in the room if you want to write a compelling story” Afentse ‘Fenny’ Lekolwane, Writer, Botswood “It is important to stay true to yourself and never stop building your work ” Neo Keboditswe, Writer & Director |
Idea to Story: Scriptwriting Masterclass
We started day 2 with Afentse Lekolwane, Roy Conli, Neo Kebiditswe and Jeff Wilson breaking down what makes a memorable and impactful script. They noted the huge importance of allowing time to brainstorm setting, character and finally story. Different genres may require different approaches but good research and input from a diverse group of people often leads to a compelling story.
“Scriptwriting is a beautiful process when you allow yourself to dream” – Neo Kebiditswe, Writer and Director
Masters of Cinematography
To start our masters of cinematography, we heard from Mike Holding who opened with his beginnings in the industry; absorbing knowledge of those around him and being ready for when an opportunity opened meant the difference in progressing or not. He touched on how being adaptable and taking inspiration from art shaped his story and advised using the tools you have to practice at any opportunity.
We then heard from Brad Bestelink who shared the advice he’s given to many as head of the NHFU Botswana. He talked about lessons in film language learnt from logging media shot by cinematographers, animation with its meticulously planned frames and picking up epic behaviour then building the sequence from there. Concluding that conveying visually over relying on just script results in better storytelling.
“We have the ability to influence the audience in the way that we frame our stories” – Mike Holding, Director & Cinematographer at AfriScreen Films
The Sliding Scale of Wildlife Productions
Opening the talk by defining key terms like bluechip and copro to decode the language of the industry, Sreya Biswas, Graeme Duane, Caroline Cox and Hans Ngoteya then dived into the wide range of wildlife production budgets. They deconstructed funding models for productions of differing sizes to help new filmmakers understand how both large and independent companies operate.
“When pitching to clients you need to know WHEN so you can understand how long you have and what the budget will look like” – Caroline Cox, Production Executive at BBC Natural History Unit
Storytelling in Stills
Mike Kendrick and Rifumo Mathebula highlight the disconnection of young Africans to the wildlife on their doorstep and the vast efforts Wild Shots Outreach have made to battle this, enabling students to become award-winning wildlife photographers through their storytelling course.
“How are we going to save the African wilderness if the young people from Africa are not involved” – Mike Kendrick, Founder & Director, Wild Shots Outreach
Collaboration Across Continents
Caroline Cox moderated this talk with the incredible Big Cats 24/7 team: Jonny Keeling, Brad Bestelink, Rowan Crawford and Reatile Schulte to Brinke. They pulled back the curtain on the excitement and difficulties experienced in this series as well as how collaborating internationally resulted in a more beneficial and equitable production for all. Both the UK and Botswana team learnt from each other in many ways during this process.
“Working with this production was amazing because I got to meet a lot of people who I would never normally meet, producers, writers, vegans” – Reatile Schulte to Brinke, Filmmaker, NHFU Botswana
WildPitch
Congratulations to Harry Vlachos on winning £5,000 GBP to support their incredible project, The Puppet Parents, showcasing Zambia’s Bangweulu wetlands, conservationists using local nest guards and innovative chick rearing techniques to save the vulnerable shoebill.
Huge congratulations too to runner up Diana Kanweri for winning £1,000 GBP support for her project The Chimp Woman and Afentse ‘Fenny’ Lekolwane for winning £3,000 GBP for Sacred Nuisance being the best Motswana pitch.
A round of applause too for our fantastic judges, Roy Conli, Jigar Ganatra, Betty Dithuri-Marumo and Jonny Keeling as well as everyone else who pitched their fantastic ideas today.
Roy Conli said the judges selected The Puppet Parents as their WildPitch Winner because, “it has an amazing sense of fantasy, an amazing sense of reality and amazing characters”
Our Best Motswana-Led Pitch prize was supported by Botswana Ignite.
Closing Remarks from Steve Lansdown
Steve Lansdown nicely wrapped the festival up by emphasising the power of storytelling and filmmaking in educating and impacting audience members worldwide.
African Premiere of ‘Mashatu: Land of Leopards’ & Filmmaker’s Q&A
Filmed in the hidden gem of Botswana, Mashatu Game Reserve – an unfenced, privately conserved wilderness area fostering vital wildlife corridors for free-roaming leopards. Land of Leopards is a gripping animal tale that follows the destiny of a family of felines impacted by climate change and forced to adapt, leading to dramatic interspecies clashes and never-before-filmed behaviours.
Festival After Party
Celebrating the festival in style with some music, local vendors selling crafts and delicious beers from Okavango Craft Brewery, tonight we’ll be sending the festival out with a bang!
A massive thank you to every single one of our incredible volunteers, speakers and team members who helped make today happen. We appreciate you all immensely!
Wildscreen Festival Botswana is made possible with the support of BBC Studios Natural History Unit, as well as Major Sponsor Mashatu and Partner Botswana Ignite.
