The Model and the Bushmen

It is early morning in Namibia’s Kalahari Desert. Four bushmen, every one of them an experienced hunter, are looking for animal tracks. They are accompanied by a tall young woman: Aleksandra Ørbeck-Nilssen from Norway.

Aleksandra worked as a model in Paris and New York for many years, until she grew tired of the big cities and travelled to Namibia. Now, she moves between the two worlds, the hectic West and wild Africa.

These days, there are few hunters and collectors as skilled as the Bushmen. Their valuable knowledge of nature is in danger of vanishing – along with one of humanity’s oldest cultures. Aleksandra has therefore founded the “Barefoot Academy”, an initiative that allows experienced Bushmen to become teachers, passing on their knowledge of how to survive in the wild using simple methods and without leaving a trace to their own descendants and to students from the West.

Written and directed by Harald Pokieser for Terra Mater Factual Studios. (2015) trailer