Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries

Virginia McKenna's Born Free (2016x79)

Date de diffusion: Oct 23, 2016

“It changed my life for ever. Not many films do that.” Virginia McKenna returns to Kenya for a documentary that, appropriately, has bite beneath a warm, self-congratulatory exterior. We hear about how McKenna and Bill Travers, her husband on and off screen, relocated their family for a year to shoot the 1966 movie Born Free, a film that couldn’t be made now and was seen as suicidally risky then. To play Joy and George Adamson, McKenna and Travers had to replicate the pioneering conservationists’ daring closeness with lions – overcoming the scary logistics involved imbued the actors with their own fierce love of wildlife. McKenna bursts with charming anecdotes about her definitive performance, although the odd tart aside shows she needed a certain toughness to pull it off. SUMMARY The actress returns to the Kenyan locations of the classic movie about a lion being reared by humans to mark its 50th anniversary. Virginia shares her experiences of working alongside wild lions for nine months, revealing how she was able to earn the animals' trust, and reflects on how the film changed public perceptions of wildlife. The programme examines the political backdrop of the film, with footage of Kenya officially gaining independence from British imperial rule.