Wunmi Mosaku, of course, is a splendid narrator for NatGeo’s ambitious, expansive, 7-episode documentary series, “Africa: Earth’s Wild Home,” streaming Friday.
Serving as both executive producer and guide, she immediately sets the record straight.
“How did this happen?” she began on Zoom, “I honestly don’t know.
“I mean, they were filming for four and a half years and they’ve been in the post-production for five years: A 9-and-a-half year project.
“I was asked to do this at the beginning of this year, which was such a great honor. But I have zero responsibility for how these images came to the screen. These camera operators, conservationists, editors and composers! I mean, they’re all incredible. Those guys deserve all of the admiration.
“And I just love nature programs. And this one is based on my favorite continent — the continent which I was born on.”
What is it about these nature programs that have people coming back again and again? Is it the life or death high stakes where we’re watching people survive or die?
“For me,” Mosaku, 40, explained, “what I love about nature programs is that I feel a little bit more connected to the planet as a whole.
“I feel more connected to my responsibility. I feel like it’s a reminder of what I do matters. Not just to the people in my life but globally and environmentally.
“It’s remembering that you are a part of this awesome, incredible world. Which is so complicated and complex and delicately balanced.
“It reminds me of my place in the balance. Am I tipping it in favor of one or the other? Am I helping or hindering? Am I being a good team member, not just for my species and my society but on a global level?
“Because I need Africa — and Africa needs me. That is what I think this series does so well: To remind us that everything that we do impacts this great continent. And this great continent has impacted everything we are and everything we have. Up from the beginning of time to today. Like we are utterly indebted to that continent.”
NatGeo’s “Africa” is unusual in that often a nature series covers one specific animal – lions, cheetahs, turtles. This “Africa” just keeps hopping around.
“It is unusual, and I think that’s great. We’ve done something different. We go to 30 different countries in Africa. It’s this journey of the continent that helps drive home that we are interconnected.
“We don’t forget that human impact is present in all of these environments, whether it’s the coastal space for the penguins being encroached on by humans or the fact that the wildfires in Senegal are getting more frequent.”
“Africa: Earth’s Wild Home” streams on NatGeo Friday
Source: www.bostonherald.com
