On Location peels back the curtain on some of your favorite films, television shows, and more. This time, we ask where Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough was shot.
When Life on Earth first aired on the BBC in 1979, it was groundbreaking. Not just for the revolutionary content, but for showcasing the true power of nature documentaries. In the 13-part series, David Attenborough took his audience to more than 100 locations around the world, introducing the world to new species, concepts, and horizons.
One of the most powerful moments was in episode 12, titled Life in the Trees. David and his team set up camp in Rwanda’s Virunga volcanoes, spending time with a family of mountain gorillas. The jaw-dropping scene involves a young gorilla named Pablo, who climbed and began grooming David as he presented to the camera. It instantly became one of the most memorable moments in documentary filmmaking—unscripted, fascinating, never-before-seen content. “There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know,” David said as the cameras rolled. “It seems very unfair that man should have chosen the gorilla as a symbol of all that is violent and fearsome, when in fact, it is a peaceable and gentle creature.”
And now, just shy of 50 years later, the inimitable nature presenter is taking audiences right back to where it all began. For Netflix’s new documentary film, Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough, we head back to Rwanda to spend time with the new gorilla families and troops living there today. This time, the film is led by director James Reed, best known for My Octopus Teacher (2020), along with assistant producer Amy Thompson (Life on Our Planet, 2023) and executive producer Alastair Fothergill, a long-time collaborator and friend of David—with the series narrated by the legend himself.
We caught up with the team to find out more about the process of working with the gorillas, shooting in the ground, and, of course, working with Sir David Attenborough to make it all come to life.
Tell us how the film first came about. What made you want to revisit the original story?
Alastair Fothergill: The sequence of David with the gorilla in Life on Earth is arguably the most famous sequence in wildlife filmmaking. David believes it’s the most important sequence he has ever done. Pablo grew up to be the most successful gorilla ever in Rwanda. He died about 10 years ago, but the group that we went to film for this documentary were all his direct descendants. Once we were there, we knew we’d filmed some pretty amazing behavior—we’ve essentially found the parallel story of the original Pablo, told by David Attenborough, nearly 50 years later.
