Rhino Man (2024)

Interesting facts

Rhino Man is a feature-length documentary about South African field rangers protecting rhinos from poaching by crime syndicates. It's a film by the Global Conservation Corps produced by Friendly Human and directed by John Jurko II, Matt Lindenberg, and Daniel Roberts. It features the late, Anton Mzimba, the Head of Ranger Services at the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, who was murdered in 2022 as the film was being completed.

Production

The production of Rhino Man began in 2015 when South African conservationist, Matt Lindenberg of the Global Conservation Corps (GCC), partnered with Friendly Human, an Atlanta, Georgia based video production company.

From 2015 to 2018, the team made five trips to South Africa, capturing interviews and developing the story. In February 2018, John Jurko II took a position at Friendly Human. Two months later he began leading the completion of Rhino Man along with Matt.

In July 2018, Matt and John raised funds through GCC for a two week production trip to South Africa. On that trip they captured the ranger selection which appears in the film, along with additional footage of Anton Mzimba. They also met filmmaker Phillip Hattingh, who donated archival footage of the late Martin Mthembu.

In 2020, the Global Conservation Corps took full ownership of the project. John Jurko II flew to South Africa in March to further develop the storyline when he was locked down with Matt for nine months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rhino Man team partnered with composer Simón Wilson to create an original score for the film. In addition, they partnered with Sipho Mchunu and Mandisa Dlanga, two musical artists from Johnny Clegg's South African bands, Juluka and Savuka, respectively. Working with Sipho and Mandisa, they created Rhino Man's title track, "Who Will Step Up?"

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