“This is brilliantly filmed and gets incredibly close to the lions, it’s almost better than being there yourself!”

According to the legend of the Shangaan, white lions are the messengers of the gods, but it has been years since one has been seen in their remote African valley. 

When a white lion is miraculously born into that valley, a young Shangaan named Gisani, finds himself destined to protect this rare and magnificent creature at all costs.  This young lion, whom will be known as Letsatsi, is cast from his pride and forced to embark upon a perilous journey of survival.

Close to starvation, Letsatsi befriends Nkulu, an older lion and together they learn how to survive in the harsh African wilderness.

Gisani, who is watching over Letsatsi, takes a job as a tracker with a local hunter, who has his sights set on leading the hunt for this rare and magnificent white lion. Gisani, guided by fate, believes that he must find a way to prevent this tragedy from happening. 

When Nkulu is killed by a farmer, Letsatsi is forced once again to survive on his own. After many trials and tribulations he finally learns to hunt by himself and grows into a magnificent adult.

But before he can take over a pride of his own, Letsatsi and Gisani must face their greatest challenge - the trophy hunter- for whom legends are worthless and rare skins priceless.

White Lion is a multiple award-winning feature film, shot entirely on location in South Africa. Featuring a minimum of human beings, the story is told entirely from the lions’ perspective.

It is the brainchild of producer Kevin Richardson, a South African animal behaviourist and better known as the “Lion Whisperer” - see also Kevin's documentary to learn more about the lions and hyenas used in the film.

Kevin has developed a unique bond with his lions, hyenas and leopards and this is one of the reasons that the film makers have been able to get so up close and personal with the lions in this beautifully filmed movie.

Please visit Kevin’s website to learn more about his other projects: www.lionwhisperer.co.za

Narrated by John Kani

Music by Philip Miller

Producer: Kevin Richardson

Director: Michael Swan

Peru Productions (2008)

Please note:  This is a rare, imported DVD that has other languages on the cover - we import this DVD from different sources and the version supplied may vary from time to time. It will either be a Dutch, German or South African import - the picture shown above will vary and is for illustration purposes only. The film itself has the original English sound track; the DVD's menu may be in a different language, but it is easy to navigate.

 For a preview of this documentary watch the YouTube clip at the bottom of this page.