The Bushman's Secrets (2006)

Name: The Bushman's Secrets
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2022-05-19T08:45:04+02:00
Rating: 3.25

Documentary | 64 minutes

3,25 2 votes

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Genre: Documentary

Duration: 64 minuten

Alternative title: Het Geheim van de Bushmen

Country: South Africa

Directed by: Rehad Desai

IMDb score: 6,9 (15)

Releasedate: 16 June 2006

This movie is not available on US streaming services.

The Bushman's Secrets plot

For centuries, the inhabitants of the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa have used the Hoodia plant to suppress hunger in times of scarcity. The pharmaceutical industry has also noticed the special quality of this cactus. For several years now, the Western "slim market" has been flooded with Hoodia products. South African filmmaker Rehad Desai goes to the Kalahari Desert to investigate the traditional way of life of the San or Bushmen and their knowledge of traditional medicine. There he meets Jan van der Westhuizen, a traditional San medicine man. As a result of centuries of colonial exploitation and marginalization, the San are seeing their traditional way of hunting and gathering disappear. Could selling their Hoodia knowledge to the Western pharmaceutical industry save their culture?