SDFF 2018 filmmaker and conflict photographer Kate Brooks participated in a live, online education event for Earth Day, “Confronting Extinction,” which is now available via free streaming. The Last Animals filmmaker and conflict photographer Kate Brooks spoke on filmmaking/journalism as methods activism and conservation during an Earth Day presented by The Last Animals Foundation and Encounter.edu. The event was hosted by 17 year-old British activist Bella Lack, and includes two 40-minute panels. Kate appears in the first, “Confronting Extinction,” but a related and quite topical panel “Impacts of Illegal Wildlife Markets,” is also streaming for free now, and focuses on the impacts of poaching and wildlife market. Organizers recommend watching The Last Animals in preparation for the live lessons.
The Last Animals (Kate Brooks, 2017) is about an extraordinary group of people who go to great lengths to save the planet’s last animals. This documentary follows the conservationists, scientists, and activists battling poachers and trafficking syndicates to protect elephants and rhinos from extinction. The Last Animals follows the struggle on Africa’s front lines, behind the scenes in Asian markets, and here, the U.S. The film takes an intense look at the global response to this slaughter and the measures to genetically rescue the Northern White rhinos from the edge of extinction.