Will a white chimp save its rescuers or get them killed?
Journalist Isabella Green travels to Sierra Leone, a country emerging from civil war, to write an article about a chimp sanctuary. Animals that need saving are her obsession, and she can’t resist getting involved with the project, which is on the verge of bankruptcy. She forms a bond with local boy, Ten, and army veteran, Pete, to try and save it.
When they rescue a rare white chimp from a village frequented by a dangerous rebel splinter group, the resulting media interest could save the sanctuary. But the rebel group have not signed the cease fire. They believe the voodoo power of the white chimp protects them from bullets, and they are determined to take it back so they can storm the capital.
When Pete and Ten go missing, only Isabella stands in the rebels' way. Her love for the chimps unlocks the fighting spirit within her. Can she save the sanctuary or will she die trying?
I worked in Sierra Leone, after the end of the civil war in 2003, and I visited the Tacugama Chimp Rescue Centre a couple of times while I stayed in Freetown. They had a young white chimp there before I arrived, but she died of disease and I did not see her. I bought a video of her short time in the sanctuary to support their work and I completely forgot about it until I cleaned up my DVD collection during lockdown. I watched it again and before I knew it, the seed of an idea had germinated in my brain. This is the result.
