大象传媒

By wildlife cinematographer Reatile Schulte to Brinke

Throughout my youth I always had a habit of binge-watching wildlife documentaries over and over, continuously amazed by the footage and hard work of these dedicated people bringing previously untold behaviours to our screens. But that is all it was to me: something I saw on TV, not the type of field I could ever enter and definitely not the one my family thought best for me.

I can’t remember the first time I saw a lion or an elephant. This is where I was born; this is all I’ve known. People from overseas would travel all that way to see the same animals that I so dearly love; all that way to visit the same lands where I live. There is nothing I find more pure and calming than being amongst nature. I always knew my life would revolve around wildlife but I did not know how.

After completing my BBA in Marketing and fulfilling the wishes of my parents, as one does, it was finally my time to make my choices and pave my own way.

As a child I would see safari trucks bustling through my home town of Maun, Botswana, carrying eager tourists led by smiling guides. Tourism is what would bring me ever closer to the wildlife I adored. Never did I believe someone like me could go into filming - this was not even an option.

After being rejected by every single local tour company I had applied for, my breakthrough opportunity came through a company based in South Africa. This was partly thanks to the German speaking I’d acquired after recently visiting some family in Europe for the first time.

It was from here that my apprenticeship as a guide began. I travelled and worked throughout Southern Africa as an assistant until finally obtaining my Full Professional Guide's Licence. Bliss. What more could I want?

I had the privilege of showing guests from all over the world our natural environment; African wildlife in its purest, untouched form.

Wildlife cinematographers Anna Dimitriadis and Reatile Schulte to Brinke use a drone to look for cheetahs.

Guiding allowed me to share my appreciation for wildlife and conservation with people from all over the world. Giving value to our wildlife ensures our wildernesses stay wild. Most importantly I got to spend multiple hours per week with fauna and flora around me.

Over a few beers at a local watering hole in Maun, a conversation brewed between myself and a stranger about wildlife and film, which led me to get in touch with world-renowned local wildlife filmmaker Brad Bestelink. From then on there was never any doubt for me I would make my childhood dream a reality.

Under tutelage from Brad my journey as a wildlife cinematographer began. Keeping the same joys of presenting our wildlife and educating people from all over the world, I am now able to reach a wider audience including those who may never be able to afford to visit Africa.