Safari / (pre)DocPoint 2021

Safari is a holiday film about killing. In DocPoint 2016 director Ulrich Seidl shocked audiences with his film In the Basement. Now he returns with a new film. In the African savannas Austrian and German trophy hunters lie in the bushes waiting for their prey. When they finally shoot a zebra or an antelope or some other unsuspecting animal, they photograph themselves smiling happily by the side of the carcass. They might even cry a bit – out of joy and excitement.

After the kill, local workers load the carcasses into pick-ups and drive them away. Out of sight and out of mind, in sad silence, the animals are skinned and cut to pieces.

Safari is a visually impressive and brutally truthful study into the European trophy tourism. It is an ugly portrait of the neo-colonialism and the recreational killing, but also a shocking glimpse into the deep dark depths of the human soul.

Viivi Myllylä / Translation: Tuomo Karvonen

Language: German, English, Afrikaans
Subtitles: English

Director: Ulrich Seidl
Country: Austria, Denmark
Year: 2016
Length: 91 min
Age limit: K16
Cinematography: Wolfgang Thaler
Editing: Christof Schertenleib
Production: Ulrich Seidl / Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion