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Brad Bestelink

Brad Bestelink

Camera

Biography

Botswana born Artist and Filmmaker. A life intrinsically linked to the Okavango Delta. Creative Director of the Natural History Film Unit in Botswana

Known For

Nature
7.9

Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.

Nature

1982
Natural World
7.4

Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.

Natural World

1983
Planet Earth II
8.6

David Attenborough presents a documentary series exploring how animals meet the challenges of surviving in the most iconic habitats on earth.

Planet Earth II

2016
Our Universe
7.8

Witness the remarkable story of our universe over billions of years and its inextricable link to life on Earth in this sweeping documentary series.

Our Universe

2022
Savage Kingdom
7.8

A rare look at warring animal clans battling for survival in a remote region of Africa, which is drying up after years of flood-soaked abundance.

Savage Kingdom

2016
Big Cats 24/7
8.3

Follow the lives of lions, cheetahs and leopards in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, a place described as one of Africa's last wildernesses.

Big Cats 24/7

2024
Surviving Paradise: A Family Tale
7.0

In this wildlife drama, a worsening dry season in the Kalahari Desert leaves prides, packs and herds to rely on the power of family to survive.

Surviving Paradise: A Family Tale

2022
Electric Amazon
6.7

The Amazon is one of the wildest and least explored parts of the planet. Encompassing 6 countries and 2 million square miles of forest, river and floodplain, it has the highest diversity of life on the planet, but what lies below it is truly shocking. In its deep muddy rivers, clear streams and expansive floodplains a freak-show of fish life has exploded, with some of the strangest shapes and weirdest adaptations on Earth. Hiding in the vast rivers and streams is an electric grid, a bizarre community of fish with a highly sophisticated electric sixth sense. Using electricity, these "Super" fish can communicate wirelessly, control each other remotely and emit shocks that can stop a human heart. This cryptic world has mystified scientists throughout the ages. Now an intrepid scientist, Will Crampton ventures back into the dark jungles where the inspiration for our technology driven world first emerged, in an attempt to unravel their secrets and unlock the electric code.

Electric Amazon

2015
Living with Leopards
7.6

A film crew follows two leopard cubs as they make the fascinating journey from infancy into adulthood in this up-close-and-personal nature documentary.

Living with Leopards

2024
Botswana
N/A

For both predators and prey, there is a fight for survival from the first breath of life and every day could be the last. The defining characteristics of each species are survival lessons passed down by evolution.

Botswana

2017
Africa's Fishing Leopards
N/A

David Attenborough narrates the intimate story of a leopard mother and her two cubs. This very special family must survive in the wilds of Botswana alongside some less-than-friendly neighbours: lions, wild dogs and hyenas. The competition for food is tough, and if they are going to make it they must learn a new skill - they must learn to fish. This is an epic family drama. With them every step of the way is local cameraman Brad Bestelink. Brad's 18-month journey following the lives of these secretive big cats offers a rare glimpse into an otherwise hidden world

Africa's Fishing Leopards

2015
Okavango: A Flood of Life
8.5

A great flood arrives in a desert kingdom, transforming a dustbowl into a vast and lush wetland, in one of the most diverse habitats on earth. This breath-taking blue-chip natural history film is a journey through Okavango’s seasons, seen through the eyes of an indigenous River Bushman. Our storyteller guides us through the course of Okavango’s flood and into a savage drought, interweaving intimate and spectacular wildlife stories. The arrival and disappearance of precious water determines the destiny of the millions of animals that call Okavango home. For many, the flood is a lifeline. For others, it brings the greatest challenges. Everyone lives or dies by this epic event. It is the heartbeat of the Kalahari.

Okavango: A Flood of Life

2021
The Flood
6.7

Surrounded by the unforgiving Kalahari Desert, the Okavango Delta is a lush, vibrant oasis that pulses with life each year as the great flood rejuvenates the land with the return of water. Witness how incredible animals – like leopards, elephants, lions, hippos and more – adapt to this unpredictable and changing landscape. When the lands are flooded, the Okavango Delta is both a sanctuary and a trap, giving and taking life in equal measure. Then, like a living, breathing ecosystem, the waters soon recede and life becomes about one thing – survival. The fate of the tens of thousands of animals that live in this place of spectacular natural drama is at stake.

The Flood

2018
Lions: The Hunt for Survival
N/A

Lions - the most feared, most iconic predator in Africa but a lion is not just a lion. Each is very different to the other. Different parts of Africa demand specific things from lions to survive. The secret is to be highly adaptable. At the end of the day, the livelihood of the pride rests on the female's shoulders. She's the one who must excel. Follow three lionesses from different parts of the continent to see how they respond to win?

Lions: The Hunt for Survival

2021
Africa's Giant Killers
9.0

Africa's largest herd of elephants and a fearless pride of young lions come face to face in an epic fight for survival. Rarely do their worlds collide, until now. This is no chance conflict; nature has played its part. Drought has weakened the elephants and the lions are desperately hungry. The dawn of the giant killers has arrived

Africa's Giant Killers

2014
Diving with Crocodiles
N/A

Documentary which follows crocodile expert Brad Bestelink on a quest to dive with crocodiles without a cage or any other protection.

Diving with Crocodiles

2010
Lion Brothers: Cubs to Kings
10.0

A male lion cub is born into a powerful pride and quickly establishes his dominance over his siblings. But after a fight with his father, he is immediately banished from the pride. How will he cope with the brutal reality of the African savannah

Lion Brothers: Cubs to Kings

2019
Blood Rivals: Lion vs Buffalo
5.0

Lions and buffalo battle for survival on the African grassland.

Blood Rivals: Lion vs Buffalo

2014
Pride in Battle
9.0

A documentary which follows two lion brothers as they become rulers of a pride in Botswana after a battle for dominance.

Pride in Battle

2010
Leopards of Dead Tree Island
9.0

A dramatic, real-life tale of three leopards plays out in Botswana's Okavango Delta. This is prime territory for Africa's most secretive big cat and although leopards normally avoid contact with each other one island is the common hunting ground of three individuals as they are drawn together by the changing seasons and the movement of their prey. What unfolds is an in-depth portrayal of their private lives; following the tension, drama and in the end, heart wrenching tragedy as all three seek one common goal - to dominate one of the Okavango's most prized leopard territories.

Leopards of Dead Tree Island

2010