Mashatu: Land of Leopards – Wildlife documentary filmed entirely in Mashatu Game Reserve, set for African premiere
Mashatu: Land of Leopards to premiere at Wildscreen Festival Botswana
Filmed entirely at Mashatu Game Reserve – one of Africa’s most celebrated destinations for leopard sightings – Mashatu: Land of Leopards, is a gripping new documentary that follows the fate of a leopard family impacted by climate change. It will premiere at Wildscreen Festival taking place in Maun, Botswana on 13 June.
The documentary, which was filmed over 3 years, is set entirely in Southern Africa’s Mashatu Game Reserve, 42-000 hectares of privately owned land in the conserved wilderness area known as the Northern Tuli Game Reserve. Mashatu is globally renowned for incredible leopard sightings and is one of the last natural havens for free-roaming leopards. The reserve lies in the remote eastern corner of Botswana where the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers converge, where Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe come together. An exceptionally diverse landscape, the backdrop features wide open plains, grassland, riverine forests, rocky hills, marshland and majestic sandstone ridges.
Using cutting-edge technology including drones and high-sensitivity low light cameras, the documentary captures rare images of a fascinating species, revealing behaviours never-before- observed. It is directed by Julien Naar, with Wim and Mags Vorster of Wild Web Africa as cinematographers and field producers, and produced by ZED for France Télévisions, National Geographic & RTS.
The film’s premiere will mark a proud moment for Mashatu, as both the setting of the documentary and a major sponsor of Wildscreen Festival Botswana. The premiere will also mark the closing event of Wildscreen Festival Botswana, taking place in Maun, from the 12-13th June 2025. This two-day celebration of natural world storytelling will feature two African premieres, an industry pitch competition, and a packed line-up of speakers representing some of the most exciting voices in wildlife filmmaking today from across Africa and internationally including industry leaders from BBC Studios, Disney, Natural History Film Unit Botswana, Earth Touch and Botswana Television.
Steve and Maggie Lansdown, majority shareholders in Mashatu Game Reserve and long-time conservation advocates in Botswana, championing sustainable tourism and key wildlife corridors, are kindly supporting the Festival. This support marks an impactful partnership between two Bristol, UK-based organisations, with a shared mission to elevate the international profile of Botswana’s outstanding natural heritage and talented wildlife filmmaking community, to boost growth in the tourism and creative economies.
The full programme and tickets for Wildscreen Festival Botswana are available here. Find out more about Mashatu here.