A documentary feature film Blood Lions, which exposes the disturbing story of South Africa’s captive breeding and canned hunting industries, will be screened in Sydney, Australia, on 4 September 2015. The screening comes at a time when the Australian government is discussing a complete ban on the importation of all African lion trophies into Australia.
The producers of the film, Wildlands and Regulus Vision, secured global distribution
for the film with PBS International. In South Africa, the rights for the film are being
handled by Indigenous Film Distribution.
“This is a rare and exclusive event,’ says Helen Kuun, CEO of Indigenous Film
Distribution. “The Sydney screening will be attended by Ian Michler, the
environmental journalist and safari operator who has the lead role in the
documentary, as well as the film’s producer Pippa Hankinson. A Q&A session and
panel discussion will be held after the screening, giving the audiences further
insight into the dark underbelly of the canned hunting world.’
Blood Lions follows Michler and Rick Swazey, an American hunter, on
their journey to uncover the realities about the multi-million dollar predator
breeding and canned lion hunting industries in South Africa.
Every single day in South Africa at least two to three captive bred or tame lions are
being killed in canned hunts. Hundreds more are slaughtered annually for the lion
bone trade. The documentary reveals the full extent of the notorious industry, which serves no conservation purpose of the species whatsoever.
The Blood Lions story is a call to action to have these
practices stopped.
Michler has followed the story of captive bred lions since 1999. The documentary
follows him as he goes to breeding farms to witness the impact that decades of
intensive breeding is having on the captive lions and other predators.
Blood Lions also trails Swazey, who purchases a lion online
from his home in Hawaii. He then travels to South Africa to follow the path of
canned hunters. Trophy hunters, operators and breeders, as well as recognised lion
ecologists, conservationists and animal welfare experts also feature in the
comprehensive documentary.
The film shows in intimate detail how lucrative it is to breed lions, and how the
authorities and most professional hunting and tourism bodies have become
complicit in allowing the industries to flourish.
For more information and tickets for the Sydney screening, click here.
