The Lawrence Jacobsen Library
DVD 0062 2001 Gorillas from the heart of darkness

DVD 0062 2001 Gorillas from the heart of darkness
Digiview Entertainment [DVD; sd., col.; 50 min.: 2001]

Documents the story of Romain Baertsoen, a Belgian diplomat who arrived in Rwanda in 1966 and began filming the country's wildlife and local inhabitants. Baertsoen was one of the first people to film the mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), and was also given permission to film a tribal group of cattle herders, the Bahima. Boertsoen explains how he learned to behave in order to film the gorillas and what he needed to do to gain the trust of the Bahima. The film shows gorillas of all ages feeding, resting and chest beating, and shows juvenile and baby gorillas climbing and playing. Two special scenes stand out: one where a female gorilla climbs into Baertsoen's lap and hugs him, and one where gorillas approach and seem to be trying to help a dog caught in a poacher's snare. The social stability of the gorilla groups and conservation and poaching are also covered. The Bahima are shown herding their long-horned cattle, in daily tasks, and dancing. Other footage shows a colobus monkey (Colobus) in a tree, other large mammals and scenes of one of the Congo's erupting volcanoes. Baertsoen left Rwanda when war broke out in 1994.