A Terra Mater Factual Studios & Bonne Pioche Télévision & Shibumi Films Coproduction,
Original Music: Laurent Garnier Pierre LeFeuvre (Saycet)
This visually stunning allegory challenges traditional documentary storytelling in an augmented clarion call for the environmental devastation that is crippling the planet and causing rapid extinctions.
Shot over ten years in remote areas of Africa, we walk with the Bastard King – a lion cub born with heterochromia - one eye yellow, the other blue – the result of a taboo union between the Blue-Eyed and Yellow-Eyed prides. Outcast and hunted by the merciless Scarred King who butchers his siblings, the Bastard Cub and his mother flee for their lives out into the increasingly drought-ridden savannah.
Every hunt becomes a lesson in survival, preparing the lion cub for his future… until his mother is brutally killed by the Yellow-Eyed enemy pride, in a pointless display of intolerance.
Alone, the cub is driven by hunger towards the deadly Blue Eyes… where the murderous Scarred King inexplicably accepts him. There, the Bastard settles into the pride. Gaining confidence and growing stronger… until he repeats his father’s mistake by seducing a Blue-Eyed lioness. In fury, the Scarred King expels him from the pride – and once again the Bastard becomes an outcast…
Time has taken its toll on the world beyond their patch of paradise. The scent of an unseen beast is in the air, forcing an exodus from beyond the mountains. Pushed to facedown this new threat, the Bastard travels with the buffalo, the Pathfinders of the savannah, towards the edge of the world. There he witnesses the terrible beast that is turning the land beyond in to a barren inhospitable landscape - an unimaginable foe called Change.
Returning to the pride and challenging the Scarred King for leadership is the only hope for unity; the only hope for survival.
THE BASTARD KING is a clarion call for help – an allegory that resonates with racial disharmony and environmental impact beyond any single individual’s ability to grasp and solve. With hybridized storytelling, the film sets out to unite the view point that time is running out, not just for the king of the beasts, but for all mankind.
- Runtime89 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryTanzania, United Republic of
A Terra Mater Factual Studios & Bonne Pioche Télévision & Shibumi Films Coproduction,
Original Music: Laurent Garnier Pierre LeFeuvre (Saycet)
This visually stunning allegory challenges traditional documentary storytelling in an augmented clarion call for the environmental devastation that is crippling the planet and causing rapid extinctions.
Shot over ten years in remote areas of Africa, we walk with the Bastard King – a lion cub born with heterochromia - one eye yellow, the other blue – the result of a taboo union between the Blue-Eyed and Yellow-Eyed prides. Outcast and hunted by the merciless Scarred King who butchers his siblings, the Bastard Cub and his mother flee for their lives out into the increasingly drought-ridden savannah.
Every hunt becomes a lesson in survival, preparing the lion cub for his future… until his mother is brutally killed by the Yellow-Eyed enemy pride, in a pointless display of intolerance.
Alone, the cub is driven by hunger towards the deadly Blue Eyes… where the murderous Scarred King inexplicably accepts him. There, the Bastard settles into the pride. Gaining confidence and growing stronger… until he repeats his father’s mistake by seducing a Blue-Eyed lioness. In fury, the Scarred King expels him from the pride – and once again the Bastard becomes an outcast…
Time has taken its toll on the world beyond their patch of paradise. The scent of an unseen beast is in the air, forcing an exodus from beyond the mountains. Pushed to facedown this new threat, the Bastard travels with the buffalo, the Pathfinders of the savannah, towards the edge of the world. There he witnesses the terrible beast that is turning the land beyond in to a barren inhospitable landscape - an unimaginable foe called Change.
Returning to the pride and challenging the Scarred King for leadership is the only hope for unity; the only hope for survival.
THE BASTARD KING is a clarion call for help – an allegory that resonates with racial disharmony and environmental impact beyond any single individual’s ability to grasp and solve. With hybridized storytelling, the film sets out to unite the view point that time is running out, not just for the king of the beasts, but for all mankind.
- Runtime89 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryTanzania, United Republic of