Every eight hours a rare rhinoceros dies at the hands (and axes) of organized poachers, pushing this majestic species inexorably towards extinction. Filmmaker Susan Scott partners with model-turned-journalist Bonné de Bod—both South Africans, and obviously invested in the cause of saving rhinos—for this powerful documentary. Above and beyond the heartrending visits to animal sanctuaries where bleating orphaned baby rhinos are painstakingly hand-raised without their cruelly butchered mothers, the filmmakers also examine the nefarious workings of the globalized market for the creatures’ horns (as well as elephant ivory), embarking on perilous hidden-camera excursions to Indochina. Vietnamese and Chinese customers—now plagued with cancer, air pollution, and other disorders related to rapid capitalist expansion—covet the horns (at about $94 dollars per gram) as folk cure-alls, beauty aids, and luck talismans. Stroop also fairly portrays the situation of the murderous poachers, noting that they are hired stooges drafted from poverty and ignorance that has been created by generations of apartheid, and used by Asians to do the dirty work (in one of the few optimistic moments, a popular Zulu queen champions a rescued rhino infant). Featuring interviewees including the legendary Jane Goodall, Stroop is presented in both its full-length version and an abridged 58-minute edition. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)
Stroop
(2017) 116 min. DVD: $125: public libraries; $295: colleges & universities. DRA. Collective Eye Films. PPR. Closed captioned. Volume 34, Issue 4
Stroop
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