African Environmental Film Foundation

AFRICAN ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FOUNDATIONOctober 1st 2022 to 31st September 2023 MOMENTS IN TIME As we pointed out in 2020/21/22, this series, the largest project ever attempted by AEFF and one seldom, if ever, produced before in Africa, follows Ivory from ancient times to the creation of the Tsavo National Park in Kenya in 1949 and then to the present time. Once again production of the series occupied the entire team at AEFF for the whole year. Professional film people in the USA have told us the usual time to complete one 90 minute documentary is two years.We have been completing post production on 35 films, of various lengths, for four years.AEFF is able to take on this huge project due to the fact that it has access to three main sources of film and audio. Simon Trevor, AEFFs CEO and director of the series, began filming in Tsavo in the late 1960s. He has given AEFF the right to use this substantial film and audio material for educational, non-commercial, use in their films. Since 1998 AEFF has been filming in Africa and has built up an extensive film library.Finally AEFF has purchased the right to use many sources of film off the Internet.All this material is available as the foundation for TSAVO: a MOMENT IN TIME. When taken together this amounts to a substantial historical film record, like no other, about the impact of ivory on people.By 2023 we had moved the project from Tsavo to Nairobi for reasons recorded in earlier annual reports on accomplishments.In 2023 we made changes to some members of staff. Adjustments to scripts were made after alterations to the pictures had been made. Voice tracks were recorded to make sure the words fitted the pictures. 25 narrators were tested and those selected were hired. Narrations were recorded in the studio Joan had built and equipped at his residence in Nairobi. AEFF agreed a very reasonable rate for the studio, resulting in a considerable savings in studio costs.At the same time the illustrator was working in Portugal. There was considerable to and fro communication necessary for him to finalise these illustrations for the historical episodes. Maps were being drawn in Colombia, again resulting in much necessary time consuming communications.When old personal photographs are used from archival libraries belonging to local people they have to be upgraded. This is also the case when using still pictures from the internet or elsewhere. This takes time, not only to compare options but to select the best ones from thousands At the end of 2022 we realised that this project had been gaining in importance through comparisons to many global issues. Tsavo was revealed as a microcosm of global issues. Joan Poggio, the Executive editor, accepted that in order to obtain the highest professional quality this project required he had to adjust the audio narration tracks and adjust the colour balance on some sections.This became a major commitment and was to mean many extra months were needed to reach the required top professional quality. The audio was proving complicated because the scope of the project dictated the amalgamation of thousands of individual sound effects on to individual timelines.This project is now on the final lap to completion.The Corvid 19 pandemic continued to cause anxiety and restrictions on travel.Lucy Nganga continued as Nairobi Manager, overseeing accounts in direct contact with the Treasurer in California. New Central Bank of Kenya regulations took much time and effort to sort out and implement. A new marine project was begun by Des Bowden in the Vipingo coastal area of Kenya. This film, a follow up record of two films already produced by AEFF in co-operation with Des Bowden, will show the incredible effort being made by local people to continue benefitting from a sustainable system. There has been a great deal of enthusiasm shown by the coastal people after they saw the earlier films. As a result a number of new protected areas have bee formed all the way up the coast. Scientists have recorded increased numbers of fish, inside and outside the protected areas.AEFF gave the Vipingo community a small donation to record a visit by British King Charles, who chose it as his choice amongst hundreds on his swing through Kenya.This project is but one idea for AEFF to continue its environmental education work after the ivory series is complete and distributed.Simon TrevorCEO AEFF12th February 2024