“As long as humans remain the ruthless destroyers of other living beings, they will never know health or peace,  because as long as humans massacre animals, they will kill each other.”

– Pythagoras –

When talking about the rhino poaching situation in South Africa, most people describe it in terms of an insurmountable ‘problem’. HORN however seeks to leave the viewer with a sense of opportunity that is based on the active protection of these magnificent beasts.

 There are a great meany problems in South Africa – all of which are linked to a troubled past and an uncertain future. Similarly, the rhino poaching crisis is also linked to all of these problems that appear almost impossible to solve. HORN however points towards a shift in perspective by linking the well-being of people with the well-being of the animal. In this sense, the rhino becomes a ‘problem solver’ because it is linked to so much history and so many social issues that drive people to poaching. In protecting the rhino effectively, South Africa can therefore simultaneously address issues such as health, unemployment and poverty through the creation of jobs.

People are needed to protect it, to take care of it, to teach about it and to bring tourists to our country. In an area such as the Waterberg, the whole economy is based on the development of tourism. If people take pride in protecting this national heritage, the whole community will thus benefit from it. During the apartheid era, appreciating the rhino was limited to a few. Now, however, the rhino can also function as a vehicle to set this injustice right by giving the youth access to these animals in a way that instils a sense of pride and responsibility based on the importance off the animal’s survival.

“…this must be simultaneously the easiest and most difficult acting job I  had ever done […] It is as if the filmmaker accepts the fact that film is a subjective medium, embraces that tendency and takes it further by inserting an imagined character into the mix.”

– Jeffrey Mundell (Mike) –

The role of Mike is to draw attention to the fact that people still tend to live past each other in South Africa. Mike is representative of a large section of South Africans who are disconnected from the trials and tribulations of people living in rural areas. Mike lives a comfortable life in Santon, Johannesburg, but as he says in the film, he feels disconnected from his fellow countrymen, while not contributing to the betterment of the country. However, when he joins the rhino monitor training he is thrown into a completely foreign world, where he doesn’t even understand the language of his fellow South Africans. The transformation that occurs in Mike is also significant. At the beginning of the film it is all about him. By the end of the film however, he looks beyond himself towards the people around him and to the environment he finds himself in. 

Casting an actor in this role was a deliberate decision due to the ideologically fuelled environment HORN entered. Everyone involved in trying to protect the rhino has some motive for wanting their perspective heard. Mike may be a character, but the experiences he encountered and his reactions were as authentic as anyone’s because they were not manipulated by the production team. Mike was simply thrown into a situation and asked to consider his experiences on both an emotional and intellectual level. In the end, this methodology led to a fascinating study of human interaction and emotional development.