Pangolin: Kulu's Journey

A young pangolin rescued from traffickers is brought to a reserve. His name is Kulu. The animal is traumatised, will not eat and cannot live alone. A volunteer takes responsibility for him. Every day he walks with him, finds ant and termite nests, watches him feed and waits for him to become able to survive alone in the wild. The process takes months. Pippa Ehrlich directs. It was released on Netflix. Ehrlich had co directed My Octopus Teacher, which won an Academy Award, and the method here is similar: a narrative built on a long relationship with a single animal. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammal in the world. Their scales are in demand on the claim that they are used in medicine, and every species is under threat; the documentary lays out that ground. What is interesting is that the animal has to stay wild. The volunteer becomes attached, and the measure of success is that the animal leaves him; the film puts that contradiction at its centre. The footage was shot at night and in half light, because pangolins move at night, and that determines the visual language. The documentary keeps the emotional register high and the music supports it throughout. Who it is for: viewers who follow nature documentary and stories of animal protection. Who it is not for: the pace is slow, the scientific content is limited, and the narrative rests on one relationship.