Killling the Shepherd (Digital Cinema Event with Panel Discussion)

In a forgotten corner of rural Africa, a female tribal chief fights to pull her people out of the grip of generational poverty. Their land, once teeming with wildlife, has been stripped bare—first by necessity, then by greed. The government wrote them off as “depleted.” Conservation outsiders ignored them. Poachers—some hungry, others criminal—moved in.

With no schools, no clinics, and no food security, the chief makes a desperate alliance with a safari operator—someone willing to invest in more than just animals. Together, they try to rebuild: protect what’s left, restore what’s gone, and create a system where people can live with wildlife—and benefit from its survival.

But poverty doesn’t loosen its grip easily. Malaria, hunger, and alcohol ravage the village. Desperation drives families to trade their daughters—barely teenagers—for a year’s worth of food. Outside speculators circle, while bushmeat syndicates push back. Even her own people question her vision. Progress becomes dangerous.

And the global conservation machine? It doesn’t help. It only makes things harder.

This is the story of a leader standing alone in the fire—of a community caught between survival and extinction.