Wild queens
The women risking lives to show off matriarchs of natural world
It was wonderful to see David still excited to be somewhere new at the age of 90 VANESSA BERLOWITZ
NATURAL HISTORY FILMMAKER
sioner), she recruited some of the very few female natural history film-makers with the relevant experience.
This included her Mexican mentee, cinematographer Tania Escobar, who incredibly filmed bonobos for the first time hundreds of feet up in the jungle canopy, while swarmed by killer African bees in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Vanessa says: “No one had done canopy work with bonobos. It was something about Tania’s calmness and gentleness, she was accepted as one of the females in that group. That’s not to say she’s not the biggest
badass out there, her office is 100m in the air being bombarded by electrical storms and huge swarms of bees.”
Vanessa was born in Syracuse, New York State, her dad was a visiting professor in architecture, her mum a housewife.
The family moved back to the London when she was very young.
He developed multiple sclerosis, and she grew up in Bournemouth, Dorset, where there was a treatment centre, with Vanessa helping with caring. It was watching Sir David’s Life on Earth which “blew me away when I was kid” and convinced her she wanted to work with wildlife.
She began working for the BBC’S Natural History Unit and worked with the great man.
She says: “It took me a long time because it was a privilege.”
Travelling the globe with him, she adds: “The time at the North Pole was his first, for his 90th birthday and it was wonderful to see someone at 90 still so excited to be somewhere new.”
Despite putting her own life on the line many times to bring incredible wildlife films to our living rooms, it was a much more familiar creature which scared Vanessa the most.
She says: “The most frightened I have been was meeting child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when we were going were going to do a shoot where chimps wade between islands bipedally in a way that gives you a glimpse of our early human story.
“I’d gone overland with a cameraman called Gavin and we were travelling on top of a goods truck, sat with all our food, all our equipment on a tarpaulin and we got stopped at a road point by child soldiers.
“They were high on heroin and all carrying large machine guns. They must have been average ages 14 to 18.
“I was in my late 20s. They started pushing me around. The lead guy said ‘come with me we need to talk to you more’. I was feeling pretty anxious.
“Gavin was amazing and thought so quick and said ‘don’t go near her, she’s riddled with diseases, that’s why she’s so old, and hasn’t had kids. Here why don’t you take the booze?’.
“He started pulling all our beer, wine and crew alcohol off.. that’s the closest I have come to real harm.
“A grizzly bear came on a full charge at us in Alaska once and I felt fear but nothing like with the child soldiers. I find animals easier to predict. They don’t want to kill you for no reason.” ■ Queens is on Natgeo on Sundays at 8pm and is streaming on Disney+.
She conquered music long ago and now Dolly Parton has set her sights on the world of fashion.
The singing legend’s team has just filed documents with the UK’S Intellectual Property Office to have her name Dolly registered alongside a butterfly.
It covers an exhaustive list of potential goods including “men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, namely, tops, bottoms, bathrobes, nightwear, shapewear, and athleisure wear”. And they’re also planning a possible range of watches, jewellery and luggage.
The application – made via her representatives in California – is being assessed by UK trademark lawyers and once passed will stay in place for 10 years.
This will give Dolly, 78, legal protection to prevent bootleggers cashing in on her fame.
The 9 to 5 and Jolene singer is worth around €585million after beginning her journey to superstardom back in the 1970s.
She is the most honoured female country performer of all time, achieving a whopping 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards.
Dolly has had 25 songs reach No.1 on the Billboard country music charts – a record for a female artist.
25 Number of gold, platinum and multiplatinum disc awards