2025 Nominees

Silverback

Off the Fence, BBC, France Télévisions, Featuristic Films

UK

- Environmental & Wildlife

What sets Silverback apart from other blue-chip natural history documentaries is its distinctive storytelling approach. The film follows wildlife cameraperson, Vianet Djenguet as he documents a mission to save the critically endangered eastern lowland gorillas of the D.R.C. from extinction. Along the way Vianet ends up finding answers to some extremely personal questions that, before his expedition, he hadn’t anticipated to be asking himself. Through tracking the work of the local conservationists, who have dedicated their lives to the gorillas, Vianet's own life and upbringing in neighbouring Republic of the Congo is brought into sharp focus. From closely observing the alpha male of the primate family at the centre of the story for three months straight, Vianet starts to reflect on the role his family’s patriarch had on shaping his sense of place in the world as a modern man. It is this merging of profound past and present-tense stories that gives Silverback its unique identity.