Black Mambas

Synopsis

Three women take on the coveted job of Black Mambas Rangers, assigned to the Big Five animals (Elephants, Rhinos, Lions, Leopards, Buffalo) at the Greater Kruger Park.
Nkateko, who sees the position as a fifirst step for her career; Qolile, training anti-poaching dogs to support her family while her husband looks for work, and Naledi, an idealist who sees the Black Mambas as the pinnacle of female empowerment, stand at the crossroads of the country’s forward progress and its colonial past.
As the women patrol the parks’ outer boundary fence lines, the Black Mambas are responsible for the safety of the Big Five against poachers, but when their boss puts them on display to promote “environmental patriotism” each finds herself at a unique critical juncture.

Director Biography

Lena Karbe born in St Petersburg, Russia, Lena Karbe is a Germany-based fifilmmaker. Having studied fifilm internationally (École normale supérieure, University of Oxford and University of Television and Film in Munich), she founded her own production company KARBE FILM GmbH in 2018 with the focus on documentaries for national and international audiences, based in Munich. The mission of Karbe Film’s documentaries is to foster new perspectives and amplify voices and opinions outside the status quo. She has produced several feature fifilms before starting to write and direct.