Two South African editors, Kathy Pienaar and Susan Scott, have been nominated in the Best Editing category of the prestigious Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, which takes place in Wyoming, USA in October.
Pienaar was nominated for the Animal Planet special, The Trapper and the Amazon, and Scott for National Geographic’s The Last Lions, which has also received nominations in the Theatrical and Original Music Score categories. Sharing the nomination with Scott is Candice Odgers, who was additional editor on the film.
The Last Lions was filmed in the lush wetlands of Botswana’s Okavango Delta and tells the suspense-filled tale of a determined lioness ready to try anything and willing to risk everything to keep her family alive. Famous wildlife filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert capture the epic journey of the lioness named Ma di Tau (“Mother of Lions’) as she battles to protect her cubs against a daunting onslaught of enemies.
Produced by Triosphere, The Trapper and the Amazon is described as a tragic love story like no other. Trapper Dairen Simpson penetrates the flooded Amazon jungle for a date with destiny. His heart is set on catching Elvira, the young jaguar who beguiled him last time he worked here. She’s now wearing a collar loaded with data that will help save her species. Dairen’s employers desperately want the collar back. But while he lays his traps and lures the jaguars in, the jungle develops a personality of its own. It has a killer grudge against Dairen and will fight to keep its secrets.
Says Pienaar: “Both Susan Scott and I are chuffed on a personal level about the nominations but are also thrilled about what this means for post-production in South Africa as the international perception seems to be that there are no editors here that can handle the wildlife genre. “
