Nations Trust WNPS Monthly Lecture LEARNING FROM LEOPARDS

By Noah Falklind & Hannah Gormley

Thu 17 th July, 6 pm Jasmine Hall, BMICH

Leopards are one of the most mysterious and elusive creatures on our planet:they’re rarely seen and, when they are, it’s usually swiftly. Hannah and Noah, two wildlife filmmakers, have been lucky enough to have dedicated over 3 years of their career to this extraordinary animal, including during the making of Netflix’s “Living With Leopards”. In this presentation, they will take you behind the scenes, revealing what it is really like to live and work with leopards. They will share how they and their colleagues learnt (the hard way!) the art of finding a leopard, the challenges and the rewards of working with them, and the power of storytelling to shape future conservation efforts for this increasingly endangered big cat. Above all, they will reveal the ultimate secret that the leopards taught them and - in doing so - how they came to film some of their most intimate moments of extraordinary behaviour.

This lecture also serves as a prelude to Sri Lankan Leopard Day on August 1st – a timely reminder of the urgency and importance of understanding and protecting our own majestic apex predator. Hannah Gormley is a wildlife field director and conservationist who believes in the power of storytelling to spark positive change. 

After studying biology and science communication, she began working in the film industry in London but soon followed her heart to the wilds of Botswana. There, she met both Noah and Mochima and had the pleasure of working alongside them for nearly three years.

Now based in Bristol, Hannah has worked on a number of landmark productions for the BBC, Nat Geo, and Netflix — but the leopards will always hold a special place in her heart. Noah Falklind is a wildlife cinematographer with a deep passion for capturing both never-before-filmed behaviors of large, iconic animals and the quiet moments of waiting in a hide for a tiny bird to appear. Born and raised in Sweden, he fell in love with nature and wildlife photography at an early age.

For Noah, both physical and artistic challenges are what make a task truly enjoyable. He spent six years living in Botswana, where he filmed several major wildlife features for Netflix including Living with leopards working closely with his partner in crime and field producer Hannah Gormley. Noah is currently working with the BBC Natural History Unit and National Geographic to create the next wildlife mega-series on Disney+ in the coming years.