Top wildlife filmmaker Mike Vincent dies
Renowned wildlife filmmaker Mike Vincent, whose awardwinning productions shone a light on conservation issues in the Eastern Cape and further afield, has died.
The jovial, but forceful, content creator was also a champion of social justice who managed to overcome stage-four cancer after being diagnosed in 2016.
However, he recently contracted complications after open-heart surgery and died on Friday at the age of 75, surrounded by his family.
His wife of 50 years, Sharyn, said he had loved the Eastern Cape and Gqeberha, emphasised through documentaries on the penguins of Algoa Bay, pollution in the Zwartkops estuary and the Addo elephants.
She said his career in film had begun when he bagged a job with the SABC in then Port Elizabeth in 1975.
“This was his home.
“He rose quickly through the ranks, but also got into trouble with his superiors because of his outspoken opposition to apartheid.
“He was also doing work for Reuters and the BBC and several times he was arrested for sending footage of antiapartheid events out the country.”
In 1983, he left the SABC to establish a production company with Sharyn, who put aside her training as a schoolteacher and became a producer, sound engineer, editor and partner at their new venture, which they named after their daughter, Jasmin.
Sharyn said through Jasmin Films, Vincent had made a number of documentaries about a range of species and environmental problems, and the issues surrounding them.
“These ranged from the Brenton blue butterfly, the coelacanth, the dugong and the Nile crocodile to the great white shark, the penguins of Algoa Bay, pollution in the Swartkops estuary, the proposed Thyspunt nuclear reactor, black eagles and the elephants of Addo and Knysna.
“A new green door had opened for Mike.
“With this work through the years he won a number of accolades, including an Artes Award, Kudu and SAB Environmental Journalist of the Year awards in 2011 and Vodacom journalist of the year in the broadcast category in 2009.”
Good friend Danie van der Walt, founder-producer of 50/50, who regularly commissioned the Jasmin Films documentaries, said Vincent’s work had been deeply rooted in his sense of place.
“Part of his success was his love for the Eastern Cape, especially the marine environment, and an impressive list of friends and contacts on just about anything.
“His jovial easy-going nature endeared him to many people
— scientists, fishermen, conservationists and even politicians.
“He was a unique soul and his memory will linger on for many years.”
Another old friend, Gqeberha-based ecologist Dr Mike Cohen, who was Eastern Cape regional director of Cape Nature Conservation when Vincent arrived in the metro, said he had done excellent work raising awareness about environmental issues.
“He never stood back for anyone.”
Sharyn said Vincent had been a perfectionist, a born storyteller and a fighter.
“He was strong and deeply ethical and most of all he was a wonderful family man and we loved him dearly.”
Vincent leaves Sharyn and his children, Jasmin, Joshua and Zach — who has followed in his father’s footsteps as a wildlife filmmaker in the US — as well as four grandchildren.
He will be cremated in Johannesburg this week and a Gqeberha memorial ceremony is planned for March 31 from 2-5pm at Milkwood Meadows in Lovemore Park.
‘He was strong and deeply ethical, and most of all he was a wonderful family man’