African Safari
Cast & Crew
Ronald E. Shanin
Michael Rye
Paul Ent
John Gates
Irene Film Studio (south Africa)
Radio Bantu S.a.b.c.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Ronald E. Shanin, an aeronautical engineer turned animal collector, filmed this documentary while traveling 25,000 miles through Africa over a 5 1/2-year period. Included in the footage are scenes of lionesses on the prowl for food and caring for their young; Shanin capturing a cobra and a black mamba with his bare hands; shots of an eagle whose wingspread reaches 7 feet; scenes of leopards, chimpanzees, a hyena, elephants, gazelles, cheetahs, and rhinoceros; and visits with the Bambuti Pygmies and with Masai tribesmen. Shanin is filmed as he hunts a lion which has been killing dogs in a bush village. The final two episodes of the film are devoted to the scaling of the fog-shrouded peaks of the "Mountains of the Moon" to map uncharted glacial floes that form the source of the Nile; and to photographing the newly-erupting Congo volcano Kitsimbanyi both from the air and at a distance of 15 yards as it spreads lava through forests and villages.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Copyright length: 103 min. Filmed in 16mm in Central and East Africa. Registered for copyright as The Rivers of Fire and Ice. Cape Town opening: July 1962.
