Projects: Pablo's Hippos

Pablo's Hippos (2011)

Drive Thru Pictures
To be aired on Sundance Channel, USA (Spring 2011)
To be aired on BBC Four "Storyville", UK (2011)

Synopsis

This story charts the incredible journey of 30 years of narco-trafficking and civil war in Colombia, seen through the naive eyes of Pablo Escobar¹s pet hippopotamus.

In the mid 1980's, Pablo Escobar was the world's most powerful drug dealer, and the third richest man in the world. He built a two thousand acre secure compound, deep in the Colombian jungle, complete with lavish mansion and guest houses, stables, nightclub, private car collection (including those once belonging to Bonnie & Clyde's and Al Capone), a full-size concrete dinosaur park, bullring, and a private zoo housing hundreds of exotic animals, including two hippos that were settled into a man-made lake.

Following his assassination in 1994, Escobar's assets were seized by the Colombian Government. Today, 'Hacienda Napoles' is in ruins having been scavenged and destroyed by treasure hunters looking for buried drugs and cash, and the animals have all disappeared. Except for the hippos. Too large and complicated to move, no zoo would claim them. Far from starving to death, as some expected, they have thrived and multiplied. Now more than 30 hippos live in the lake and surrounding waters. Some have broken free and have been seen swimming up river in search of food and mates. Their escape has made national news. They've become mythological beasts to local fisherman who fear for their lives and livelihoods, too scared to fish the waters, and upsetting the local eco-system and food chain in the process. In addition to this, the Government has re-claimed the land and started renovating Escobar's estate into a theme park, complete with a maximum security jail on the perimeter, designed to house Colombia's most dangerous criminals. With nowhere to house the hippos, their future remains uncertain.

'Pablo¹s Hippos' follows the 30-year journey of the hippos ­ how they arrived from Africa, adapted, survived and subsequently developed into the new lords of the rivers - a parallel to Colombia¹s own socio-economic adaptation and survival through 30 years of narco-trafficking and times of civil war and struggle.

Credits

Produced by Amber Entertainment/Drive Thru Pictures
WRITTEN, PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY Antonio Von Hildebrand
PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY Lawrence Elman
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Stephen Hopkins

BACK