John Jurko II sets up a shot to interview Anton Mzimba, an African park ranger whose story is central to “Rhino Man.” Contributed photo.
“Rhino Man” can easily be described as a feature-length documentary about the wildlife park rangers in South Africa protecting the rhino from poachers.
What can’t be so easily described is how the film got to the point where it will be released July 26 on Apple TV, Google Play and Vimeo on Demand.
The film also will be screened at 7 p.m. Aug. 20 at Cinemark Tinseltown in Boardman. Tickets are available at rhinoman.eventbrite.com
John Jurko II, a Yankee Lake native, wore many hats in the making of “Rhino Man,” including producer, director, cinematographer and editor, but he was not around for the very early stages of what became “Rhino Man.”
“This project was started originally by Matt Lindenburg,” Jurko said. “He’s a South African who was trained (at) and also worked at the Southern African Wildlife College, which is featured in the film. He was helping train rangers and had a mentor, Martin Mthembu, who passed away in a car accident in 2014, I believe. Matt really wanted to carry on his (Mthembu’s) legacy, and his work with developing youth into rangers. He decided he wanted to try and start a nonprofit and tell the stories of these rangers. At the time, they were basically these unsung heroes working in the shadows, protecting the reserves, but no one really knew who they were or were giving them much support.”
Lindenburg had a friend whose brother lived in Atlanta and was working for a production company. “They started out just helping them out doing a little Kickstarter video, trying to support some short stories, and that kind of snowballed into shooting more and more and them trying to develop it into a feature film.”
Jurko, who lives in Atlanta, saw the trailer for that film and was attracted to it. He also liked that the production company mixed commercial work with pieces for nonprofits.
“I kind of stalked them for about a year,” Jurko said. “Got a job there, eventually.”
John Jurko II, left, is shown with Matt Lindenburg, his co-director for “Rhino Man,” a documentary film soon to be released. Contributed photo.
He asked about “Rhino Man,” saw what they had done, and suggested that the film needed main characters and a story arc. He started working with Lindenburg, whose nonprofit, Global Conservation Corps, raised about $30,000, and they went to South Africa in 2018 to shoot for two weeks.
“Slowly, I ended up taking over the project and becoming really great friends with Matt, who is more focused on the nonprofit now,” Jurko said. “It kind of became my baby.”
After the 2018 shooting, the production company said the film needed to be released or bought from them. “We worked to get the nonprofit in a position where they could buy out the project and have complete ownership of it,” Jurko said.
Slow forward to 2022, and Jurko is working on the finishing touches for the film. One of the main story lines followed Anton Mzimba, the head ranger at Timbavati private nature reserve. On July 26 of that year, he was murdered outside of his home by assassins hired by a crime syndicate that finances the poachers.
“Just sent us on this crazy journey,” Jurko said. “We wanted to include that part of the story in a way that felt respectful but also made the story stronger and honored Anton and all of the work he had put into this film.”
That meant reworking the film and shooting new footage.
After Mzimba’s death, Prince William of England “tweeted out that we need justice for Anton,” Jurko said “We were like, ‘Whoa, this is kind of crazy that Prince William is taking notice.’”
Prince William has a charity called United for Wildlife and a relationship formed between him and the makers of “Rhino Man.” Jurko met with Prince William and they together attended a screening of the film in London. Prince William also gave the filmmakers an introduction that resulted in a series of festival and special screenings of the film.
John Jurko II speaks at a gathering for United for Wildlife, a charity associated with Prince William of England. Contributed photo.
Jurko wanted the film to debut on July 26, which is the two-year anniversary of Mzimba’s death. Information about the releases will be published at rhinomanthemovie.org
“I feel a mixture of proud, relieved,” Jurko said of the six-year “Rhino Man” odyssey. “We feel like (we fulfilled) our promise that we made all those years ago to tell these rangers’ stories and just kind of excited to see how it takes off once we get it online.”
As for what Jurko does next, he’s not sure.
“I still want to keep making movies,” he said. “I’d love to make something that’s scripted, maybe in the sci-fi space – so, totally different direction, probably, than what most people would expect.”
