Africa’s Eden Tourism - Lights, Camera, Africa’s Eden: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Untapped Cinematic Destinations

Lights, Camera, Africa’s Eden: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Untapped Cinematic Destinations

Southern Africa is no stranger to film crews, mostly of the documentary variety. Blame the extraordinary wildlife and incredible cultures.

“Botswana has long been a magnet for National Geographic explorers, filmmakers, and Hollywood icons,” says Jillian Blackbeard, CEO of Africa’s Eden Tourism.

By Lorraine Kearney

Photo: Shenton Safaris

“In 1975, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton brought global attention to Chobe Game Lodge with their high-profile remarriage. Decades later, the country’s rich history took centre stage in the 2016 historical drama A United Kingdom, directed by Amma Asante and starring Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo, which depicted Botswana’s first family.”

And so we roll around present-day, when the films are big, the crews specialised and the tech a thing of beauty in itself. What’s smaller? Budgets. And bigger? Travel inspired by film and TV locations.

The trend has even got a name – set-jetting, or visiting filming locations. It was a top trend in 2024, and Expedia reported that interest in The White Lotus locations (Hawaii, Sicily) rose 300% after the respective seasons of the television series were aired. Thailand expects a 20–63% growth in international arrivals up to 2030 based on season three.

In Southern Africa, Derek Shenton of Shenton Safaris, which works in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, has first-hand experience of this. “A successful wildlife film will attract more visitors, which is good for the tourist economy.

“A good example is Planet Earth 3, part of which (the leopard sequence) was filmed at Kaingo Camp. High profile films such as these help to bring awareness of the South Luangwa,” he says. “Visitors book our camps specifically to see the carmine bee-eater nesting colony (filmed by BBC), the hippo hide (BBC and others since 1995) and the leopards (BBC Earth 2022).”

In Botswana, Jillian mentions that: “Dereck and Beverly Joubert seamlessly blend film and tourism, capturing the untamed beauty of the Okavango Delta in their award-winning documentaries – narrated by acclaimed actors such as Jeremy Irons and Charles Dance.

In addition, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May took their Ultimate Grand Tour across Zimbabwe. Their journey showcased Zimbabwe’s stunning national parks, rugged terrain, and vibrant local communities, bringing the destination’s unique charm and adventure to a global audience.”

Asked what he thinks the effect is on Africa, Tyrone McKeith of Classic Zambia Safaris says: “I would hope that people are inspired to visit a destination that has been featured – this is especially rewarding when the destination covered is little-known and little-visited (such as the Kafue National Park or Liuwa Plains) as this is a net-benefit to the people who would have worked hard behind the scenes (park management and tourism stakeholders) to have created an environment with something of note or value to film.”

Southern Africa is an exceptional destination for filmmaking. It’s got the locations: jaw-dropping beauty; wild landscapes, desert, savannah, jungle, river, swamp, beach, mountain; wildlife; diverse and interesting cultures; architecture – big cities, small towns, remote farms and camps.

In fact, there is very little the region doesn’t offer. It’s even got mind-altering lunar landscapes.

“I am always in awe of the wildlife photographers’ commitment to getting the shot. They consistently stay out all day in the hot sun in wait of something to happen. Wildlife filming takes great patience and skill and those who make a career out of it are a rare breed of special people without whom most of us would not know how breathtaking the natural world is.”

– Derek Shenton, Shenton Safaris

No bridge too far

To logistics: Southern Africa is a huge place, for sure, and road travel can be tortuous, but you can get to places quickly and efficiently by helicopter, small plane or boat. Of course, once you land, getting to your location may take quite a bit of planning and insider knowledge.

Africa’s Eden Tourism has a number of safari operators, accommodations and destination management companies across the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, that have expert experience in working with filmmakers in some of the most remote places on Earth.

Telecoms can throw up some curve balls, with internet coverage patchy to non-existent in the more remote locations.

Yvonne Jandles of Routes Through Africa in Zimbabwe, a destination management company that works with film crews, says: “I’ve worked with crews that bring portable routers for WIFI access … The advent of Starlink is an alternative solution. It is necessary to get the one that is registered nationally so that it can be moved to different locations.”

Starlink has “completely revolutionised remote location internet connection”, says Tyrone. It’s also cut costs, which were high with remote satellite dish internet connections.

Kaingo and Mwamba, Shenton Safaris’ camps deep inside South Luangwa, both have Starlink internet “which is very efficient and a great assist for film crews”, says owner Derek.

That’s balanced by value for money: exchange rates are favourable, which is good for the bean counters and helps to stretch budgets. But governments can do more to provide an ‘ease of doing business’ – make getting permits easier, for example.

Another gamechanger was drones, says Clinton Edwards of Safari Life Africa, which works in Botswana. “We used to use helicopters all the time, but [drones have] certainly saved the costing by several million pula.”

Most of the larger, better-known production companies bring in the most skilled personnel on a shoot by shoot basis – typically the DOP and the producers are from outside the region. Clinton says there is a number of young Batswana coming into the industry over the last 10 years, “some really good documentary wildlife guys … there’s some nice, cool, young local directors and producers and certainly some young camera guys coming into the industry”.

Tyrone of Classic Zambia Safaris sees a similar thing happening in Zambia: “There are now and increasingly several highly skilled, talented and increasingly experienced local professionals in the industry – many of whom are employed onto productions.

“Aside to permanently employed people by fixing companies like ours at Reel Nature (we have professional guides, GSS specialist drivers, chefs, administers, etc.),” Tyrone says, “there is a whole plethora of local people who benefit from shoot to shoot – from immigration consultants, to local indunas and chiefs, from local artisans to potential characters in productions. The reach of a ‘shoot’ is far greater than people realise.”

But is it good for the animals?

“In some instances, film crews can actually aid the sensitisation and habituation of wildlife in previously under-visited and under-utilised areas, not to mention aid wildlife research and conservation organisations by spending long periods of time in areas most other do not by gathering valuable insights and media (stills and video),” says Tyrone.

Robin Pope of Robin Pope Safaris, which works in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, has a similar take, saying that filming attracts animals, which become almost habituated. “This becomes a money-generating product, which means there is an extreme importance within the local communities and within the economy as a whole for us to keep the animals and keep these pristine wildlife areas.”

Clinton says: “Some of your scarce critters like brown hyena will take time to habituate. So, if filmmakers want to make a documentary on animals that we don’t generally hang around with because they’re scarce to find, we [often] put a team in there to spend about a month or two months pre-filming for the animals to get used to the vehicle. From a filming perspective, it’s great.”

And from a marketing point of view, it’s gold. “It exposes what we actually have to a potential market,” says Robin. The balance, of course, comes in drawing visitors, but not too many. In its favour, Robin Pope Safaris works in very remote areas in the already very remote South Luangwa National Park.

There’s potential

Of the region’s cinematic potential, Tyrone says there are still lots of areas and wildlife and wildlife behaviour to showcase. “[With] advances in filming technology and our ability to cover ground we previously couldn’t even these more familiar places and species may be seen in a different light.”

Clinton of Safari Life Africa has a different take. “It’s definitely not as untapped as you might think,” he says. “Over the Covid period, we probably ran … I would say … 50 different documentaries within that year and a half. We really had a massive boost, filming every sort of conceivable thing we could.”

Some areas are becoming over-exposed, it’s true, but this is a vast place. “I think if you are open-minded but can still appreciate the logistical challenges of getting in and out of certain areas then one can still consider it an almost untouched destination,” says Patrick Hill of Pride of Africa Safaris, which works across Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

Derek of Shenton Safaris has a different view: “Africa has endless untapped cinematic potential. Apart from their natural behaviour and beauty as human activity invades their space wildlife has to adapt to new conditions which always tells a story.”

Did You Know

The first known wildlife documentary filmed in Africa was Armand Denis’ Dark Rapture (1938), though controversial today, which included groundbreaking footage of African wildlife. In 1979, Etosha: Place of Dry Water by the Hughes family, spawned an entire industry.

The nuts and bolts

Pride of Africa Safaris uses 4×4 trucks and Land Cruisers to get heavy equipment into remote areas. “In the past we had big silent generators that we pulled on trailers behind our vehicles. Today we use a lot more solar and green technology to enhance the experience and cater for our needs.”

New smaller cameras and other tech that have far more features are a fraction of the size and weight makes things a bit easier.

“Equipment is very heavy and often requires very expensive high tech mounting gear for the vehicle attachment,” says Derek. “Power supply is normally run off battery banks in the field and then charged up overnight back at the camp (through our solar power system).” Modern film cameras are very sturdy and can withstand very high temperatures, but the data storage equipment is vulnerable to extreme heat.

The most remote shoot

Tyrone McKeith of Classic Zambia Safaris: “The Upper Zambezi floodplains comes to mind. We recce’d for an expedition-type shoot across the Barotse floodplains – midnight mokoros and giant tigerfish adventures and many, many miles from anywhere.”

Patrick Hill of Pride of Africa Safaris: “On the African continent places like the Kalahari Desert / Northern Kaokoland / Northern West Coast of Namibia /Bushmanland / snowy caps of the Lesotho mountains.” This is a man who got lost in Kaokoland during the wet season on a starless night and with a deadline to meet. Crazy? Exciting? Scary? You decide.

Derek Shenton of Shenton Safaris: “Following the wild dog to their den, which can be miles inland.”

Clinton Edwards of Safari Life Africa – who once unknowingly shared his camp bed with a Mozambican spitting cobra: “You know, some places are just not as remote as we’d like them to be. We lived on one of the islands in the central Okavango Delta for The Great Flood, an episode in the Nature’s Great Events series.”

International Film Festival Africa (ITFFA)

This article was originally commissioned by Africa’s Eden for the International Tourism Film Festival Africa (ITFFA) 2025 Magazine and is reprinted with permission.

Since its inception, ITFFA has received over 5,000 entries from 97 countries, including 23 from Africa. The festival highlights the strong connection between film and tourism—two industries that rely on storytelling and have the power to inspire travel.

ITFFA aims to further this dialogue, exploring how film can showcase destinations, drive tourism, and create sustainable employment opportunities for young people—not only within local communities but across Africa and beyond.

Lights, Camera, Africa’s Eden: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Untapped Cinematic Destinations

No bridge too far

But is it good for the animals?

There’s potential

Did You Know

The nuts and bolts

The most remote shoot

International Film Festival Africa (ITFFA)

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