We have long held a fascination for Chacma baboons, so these highly entertaining, intelligent animals were an obvious choice for our first film. Since baboons are persecuted as vermin throughout most of their range, we aimed to portray the sensitive side of these highly-social primates to promote a more enlightened understanding of their behaviour.
Since we worked on a tight budget we both wore many hats! Adrian was producer, director, cinematographer, sound designer, project accountant, assistant editor, boat captain and camp cook. While Robyn worked as producer, writer, sound recorder, field assistant (aka elephant decoy) breadmaker and camp cleaner.
Our filming camp, on a remote island in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, consisted of three tents, a pit toilet and bucket shower. Since the area is flooded for most of the year it is inaccessible to vehicles, so the entire film was shot on foot. With the occasional help of a friend, we carried all camera and sound equipment in backpacks, while we walked with the baboons throughout the day. Following them often meant wading through flooded plains, with Adrian poling us across deeper channels in a dugout canoe. While predators were generally wary of our small crew, encounters with large dangerous herbivores like elephant, buffalo and hippo presented significant challenges.