MOVIE OF THE WEEK April 25, 2024: PANGOLIN: KULU’S JOURNEY
Imagine a little anteater covered in armored scales that look a bit like artichoke leaves, running around on its hind feet looking for tasty ants to slurp with its prehensile tongue, only to curl up like a pill bug when it encounters a threat, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what a pangolin looks like. And once you watch director Pippa Ehrlich’s documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey, you’re likely to find yourself a staunch advocate of these endearing creatures.
Ehrlich — who previously turned her empathetic lens on cephalopods in the acclaimed film My Octopus Teacher — tells another moving story of a human’s experience with a memorable animal in Pangolin. In this case, it’s Gareth Thomas, a once-hard-partying professional poker player from South Africa who had an epiphany after losing two friends in an accident and realized that he needed more meaning in his life. He found it through working with the Joburg Wildlife Vet and, ultimately, volunteering as an ambassador for the African Pangolin Working Group (APWG), a nonprofit dedicated to pangolin conservation and rescue.
It’s that work that leads Gareth’s path to cross with that of Gijima, a baby pangolin who’s saved from traffickers but needs a lot of support to grow big and healthy enough to succeed on his own in the wild. Gareth, who renames the pangolin Kulu because it means “easy” (as opposed to Gijima’s translation of “run”), becomes the animal’s constant companion, feeding him, accompanying him on walks, keeping him safe from harm, and eventually helping him learn to navigate life in the bush. Kulu doesn’t return Gareth’s investment of time and energy with anything that could be traditionally recognized as affection, but the two undeniably share a connection that’s meaningful to both of their lives.
Ehrlich captures moments both silly and serious with lovely cinematography that lingers on the beautiful South African landscape and provides insight into pangolin habits and behavior—as do interviews with dedicated pangolin experts and conservationists. Extreme close-ups of the ant colonies that Kulu raids for sustenance are also fascinating. What’s most heartwarming, though, is the way that the movie’s human subjects work together to ensure the survival of a species threatened by humanity’s own selfishness (pangolin scales are highly sought after for use in traditional folk medicine). It offers a message of hope that’s sorely needed. — Betsy Bozdech
Team #MOTW’s comments:
Loren King Just as filmmaker Pippa Ehrlich managed to humanize a cephalopod in her Oscar-winning My Octopus Teacher (2020), her latest documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey eloquently details the powerful but fragile connection between humans and creatures of the wild. Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey, now on Netflix, is a revelatory look at one of oddest and most endangered mammals on earth. Most of us probably don’t know much if anything about the pangolin, an ancient creature that coexisted with dinosaurs and walks on hind legs like a tyrannosaur rex and feeds solely on ants and termites with its long, whip-like tongue. Pangolins are in danger of extinction. Read full review.
Nell Minow: The stunning photography and the enthralling world of one of the earth’s most improbable creatures are extraordinary, but what makes this film unforgettable is the tenderness of the relationship of the pangolin and the man who loves him enough to “rewild” him and let him go.
Leslie Combemale Documentarian Pippa Ehrlich won an Oscar for My Octopus Teacher, a film about the connection between a human and a creature. Her new film Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey investigates another close tie, this time between a baby pangolin and his volunteer guardian Gareth Thomas. The stakes of their particular relationship are remarkably high. The film shows the strength of connection and power to heal that interactions between humans and creatures can bring. It also considers the circle of life in a practical and enlightened way, with the inclusion of Dr Caswell Munyai, who is an expert in invertebrate biology (including ants and termites!). Kulu eats only those two bugs, and a lot of them, but Munyai knows pangolins are an important part of South African’s ecosystem. Read full review.
Jennifer Merin Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey is a documentary that stars Kulu, a charismatic baby Pangolin who has been rescued from South African criminal animal traffickers and is, in the company of a protective human guardian, learning what he needs to know so he can be released into the wild, procreate and save his species from extinction. Filmmaker Pippa Ehrlich (director of the equally enlightening My Octopus Teacher) closely follows Kulu and his dedicated caregiver, a volunteer who narrates the process and progress as Kulu teaches himself how to survive so he can be ‘re-wilded.’ Read full review.
Sandie Angulo Chen: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Pippa Ehrlich’s new documentary, Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey, shares much in common with her beloved My Octopus Teacher: both center on a human-animal bond and explore how such connections can be deeply healing and transformative. In Pangolin, Ehrlich follows Gareth, a South African “pangolin walker” who helped rescue a baby pangolin from poachers and now serves as its dedicated guardian. We learn that pangolins are ancient creatures—85 million years old—with interlocking scales, no vocal cords, and a surprising amount of personality despite their silence. Kulu’s story, and Gareth’s devotion, is both compelling and urgent—a quiet but powerful call to action to help protect one of the world’s most heavily trafficked and endangered animals.
Liz Whittemore Audiences cannot prepare themselves for My Octopus Teacher director Pippa Ehrlich’s latest film, Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey. The filmmaker delivers another emotionally charged doc. This time, we follow the rescue of a trafficked baby pangolin and the man who becomes his caretaker. Kulu has a feisty personality and looks like a cross between an artichoke and a cartoon. Gareth Thomas discovered his passion after feeling aimless most of his life. The two develop a relatable child-parent bond, with their mutual goal being rewilding into the South African landscape. With help from Thomas, cinematographers Stephen Dover and Warren Smart provide mesmerizing camerawork. Combined with Anne Nikitin’s whimsical score, it creates an extraordinary viewing experience. This unique relationship between man and animal begs existential questions of morality and our purpose on earth. You will be enamored by this film.
Cate Marquis Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey is a documentary about pangolins, the scaly yet oddly-appealing endangered animals whose only defense is to curl up in a ball, but this surprisingly moving and touchingly documentary tells that story through the re-wilding of one pangolin, Kulu, by a patient, gentle man, a South African named Garrett. The care giver narrates the pangolin’s journey as he watches over and protects Kulu on his journey to becoming wild. When the little pangolin was rescued from illegal wildlife traffickers, who sell pangolins for their scales which are used in traditional Chinese medicines, he was still a baby who should have been with his mother. Re-wilding any pangolin is difficult but this hand-raised baby was a special challenge. This well-made documentary, from Pippa Ehrlich, the director of My Octopus Teacher, does teach us things about pangolins – reclusive, little scaly anteaters that looks like a reptile but are actually mammals and date back to the age of dinosaurs – and their plight, in a film that features some stunning nature photography. But it is the relationship between this one young pangolin and his kind-hearted human care giver that makes Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey such a moving, human experience.
FILM DETAILS:
Title: Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey
Director: Pippa Ehrlich
Release Date: April 15, 2025
Running Time: 88 minutes
Language: English
Screenwriters: Documentary
Lead Performers: Kulu the Pangolin. Gareth Thomas
Distribution Company: Netflix
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Sandie Angulo Chen, Betsy Bozdech, Leslie Combemale, Pam Grady, Loren King, Cate Marquis, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Sherin Nicole, Liz Whittemore
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Edited by Jennifer Merin
