Photo Miz Mendelson

The film ‘The Last Cheetahs of Solitaire’ has been selected for three film festivals so far, namely the International Environmental and Sustainability Film Festival (FICAS), the International Ecology Film Festival (RZAV Film Fest) and the EKOFILM International Environmental Film Festival.

“I’m over the moon!” said Miz Mendelson of Mendelson Images. She is the director of the film, and the founder of Cheetah Watch, a long-term project to bring awareness and raise resources in the interest of the long-term survival of these big cats.

“In a wild land, five cheetahs await their release, but the world of humans won’t let them go so easily. This is the story of the Namibian cheetah, and what awaits the fate of this cat whose future hangs by a thread,” the description of the film reads.

Can they be released?

Filmed in the dramatic desert of Namibia and surrounding environments, the story focuses on the plight of the five wild, but captive cheetahs.

“They were never meant to stay in captivity, but as the clock ticks away the months which have now turned to years, can they be released? And where will be far enough from the risk of a farmer’s gun?”

The ‘Last Cheetahs of Solitaire’ represents a complicated present and a tentative future – co-existence is a struggle that transcends individual species and borders.

“It begs us to examine the complex beauty of the world’s delicate balance. Mankind’s stubbornness and resistance to change threatens the cycle of life for us all. Our hope is that with frustrations mounting at the crumbling mirage of human supremacy, we will be compelled to rise above our primal fears and impulses, and surrender to the wisdom of the wild,” Mendelson said.

She added: “The closer we look at the cheetah’s plight, the clearer we see ourselves. Human and wild. Conflict does not have to be inevitable.”

Mitigating predator conflict

Starting this project as a photojournalist and reporter for National Geographic between 2010 and 2014, Mendelson from Rhode Island in the United States worked on human wildlife conflict stories in southern and eastern Africa.

She documented non-governmental organisation (NGOs) working with rural communities to mitigate predator conflict, specifically with the cheetah, and scientific studies in the field where cats were collared and released on site, or relocated for study in the wild.

Since then, a plan was hatched to bring these stories to life via film and online media with her research leading her to take on an advanced degree, focusing on the illegal pet trade of cheetah cubs in Somaliland to the Middle East.

Holding an MSc degree in international criminal justice, the director continues to assist NGOs, law enforcement and media initiatives, stressing the global importance of co-existence over conflict as well as women’s rights and environmental concerns.  – francoise@nmh.com.na