ABOUT THE FILM

Founded in the wake of war, the East Nimba Nature Reserve shelters some of West Africa’s most endangered species. With exclusive, on-the-ground access, OVERBURDEN follows rangers, scientists, and forest defenders, including ranger Moses Darpey, biologist Grace Kotee Zansi, chief park warden Catherine Kuku Dolo, and community leaders Saye Thompson and Dada Konkah, who tend the land, protecting endangered species and sustaining livelihoods as a billion-dollar company falls short of promised support. They are joined by Shadrach Kerwillain, a Liberian conservation biologist and Mnqobi Mamba, a bat scientist from Eswatini, who navigate the tangled frontier where mining meets conservation and where memory, science, and power collide.

The film captures their intimate encounters with the mountain’s extraordinary inhabitants, from the only true viviparous toad found nowhere else on Earth to resilient cave-dwelling bats and adaptive chimpanzees. Grace works to reconcile clashing farmers and chimpanzees through coexistence strategies. Moses searches for the rare Nimba toad on high peaks, while Mnqobi revisits a cave to see if the bats he helped relocate as part of the company’s biodiversity offset program are still there.

OVERBURDEN tells a powerful story of resilience and transformation in a landscape shaped by industry yet alive with possibility. Through vivid cinematography and deeply rooted storytelling, the film follows communities and nature enduring and adapting in the face of relentless global forces. OVERBURDEN celebrates the power of mutual aid, showing how people and ecosystems persist, rebuild, and thrive against overwhelming odds.

THE CAST

Moses Darpey serves as an FDA Ranger at the East Nimba Nature Reserve. His passion for biological research has driven him to serve as a field assistant on a wide range of surveys, from bats and butterflies to chimpanzees and toads to birds and shrews. In recognition of his expertise, Moses is regularly sought by scientists and seconded to research missions across Liberia. Moses, who has both grown up and worked in the area, possesses deep knowledge of the Nimba landscape and acts as one of the main tour guides for visitors to the reserve.

Shadrach Kerwillain: A graduate of the University of Liberia, where he developed his passion for biology, Shadrach earned a Master’s degree in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge. With more than a decade of experience as a conservation practitioner for Fauna & Flora International, Liberia, Shadrach is committed to finding solutions in advancing biodiversity conservation that work for local people and the environment. He has taught conservation biology at the University of Liberia and is a mentor for many young Liberians seeking professional careers in natural resource management. Shadrach is completing a PhD in Environment and Society at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.

Catherine Kuku Dolo serves as the Chief Park Warden at East Nimba Nature Reserve, having begun her conservation journey as a student volunteer at the reserve. She is the first woman to hold this position since ENNR’s establishment in 2003, and as Liberia’s only female park warden, she serves as both an ambassador and an advocate for empowering young women in a traditionally male-dominated field. With expertise in natural resource management, Catherine believes that engaging local communities is essential to the successful management of protected areas. Her passion for conservation means that, despite her role as the park’s head, you might find her in the forest on a research mission or actively supporting community outreach.

Grace Kortee Zansi is the Park Biologist at East Nimba Nature Reserve, where she manages and supports research on the park’s distinctive plant and animal species. She also focuses on community outreach to tackle wildlife-related issues impacting local communities, working to prevent and mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. Her efforts to protect chimpanzees and elephants have earned her recognition, including winning the prestigious World Female Ranger Award in 2023. That same year, she was also named Environmentalist of the Year at the United States Agency for International Development Liberia mission Development Awards. Grace serves as a role model for young women throughout Liberia and views conservation as her way of contributing to society.

Saye Thompson has served as the chairman of the East Nimba Nature Reserve Co-Management Committee since 2010, when the communities and the Forestry Development Authority agreed to co-manage the reserve. He is also the Chief Officer of the Blei Community Forest. Given his extensive experience and advocacy for community participation in forest management, he was elected President of the National Union of Community Forest Management Bodies. Saye has consistently emphasized at national and international forums that working with and empowering communities is the most effective way to protect forests throughout Liberia.

Dada Konkah serves as secretary of both the East Nimba Nature Reserve Co-Management Committee and the Blei Community Forest Management Body. Trained as a teacher, Dada is a community advocate focused on multinational mining companies’ activities in Nimba. He has advocated for local communities’ rights to benefit from their natural resources in a fair and equitable manner. To advance this agenda, he founded the Nimba Advocates for the Environment, Economic Empowerment and Resource Rights. Dada views access to a healthy environment as a human right that must be protected and works to highlight the negative environmental impact of resource extraction.

Mnqobi Mamba is an Eswatini scientist who specializes in small mammals, including bats, rodents, and insectivores. He has worked as a research fellow and museum curator at the University of Eswatini. Mnqobi is passionate about field biology, especially conducting biodiversity surveys to discover unknown species throughout Africa.

Harrison Geh is employed by the Forestry Development Authority as a Ranger at East Nimba Nature Reserve since 2015, Harrison had served as a community volunteer for many years. As a resident of a community adjacent to the reserve, he leverages his local knowledge and ties with the community to aid law enforcement and foster community involvement within the reserve.

THE CREW

Sarita West (Director) is a New Zealand–born documentary filmmaker who founded Alchemy Films in 1994. After early experience in feature films, music videos and her own 35mm short fiction, she was drawn to documentary to explore social and environmental justice in an era of rapid planetary transformation. Frequently collaborating with educators and local film crews, Sarita crafts films that are both impactful and rooted in community, inviting audiences toward deeper social engagement. Her previous titles include The Disenchanted Forest, Fire Burn Babylon, In the Shadow of Ebola, The Waste Commons, and The Land Beneath Our Feet. Her work has been broadcast internationally on National Geographic Channels, PBS Independent Lens, Discovery Canada, Canal+ and ARTE.

Gregg Mitman (Creative Producer) is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and teacher, whose books, essays, and films explore the historical intersections between science, medicine, and the environment. Since 2012, he has pursued research and built partnerships in Liberia that led to the making of two films, In the Shadow of Ebola (2015) and The Land Beneath Our Feet (2016), and a book, Empire of Rubber: Firestone’s Scramble for Land and Power in Liberia (2021). His current research project, Fragments of the Forest, of which Overburden is a part, investigates the convergences between resource extraction, biodiversity conservation, and emerging infectious disease threats in the Upper Guinean Forest of West Africa. His research is funded by the European Research Council.

Emmanuelle Roth (Associate Producer) is an anthropologist with a keen interest in health, the environment, and science. Currently a postdoctoral research fellow in the project “Fragments of the Forest: Hot Zones, Disease Ecologies, and the Changing Landscape of Environment and Health in West Africa” (2021–2026) at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich (Germany), she works on scientific practices, understandings, and ethics in extractive frontiers of Guinea and Liberia.

Alexander Wiaplah (Cinematographer) is a Liberian cinematographer, director, editor, and journalist who has dedicated his career to helping rebuild Liberia’s film and television industry in the wake of the civil war. He is the founder and CEO of “Ush Production Inc.,” where he teaches basic camera operations and video editing to young talent in the community. His directing credits include Wheel and Deal (2020) and cinematography credits include Baby Chimp Rescue (2020), In the Shadow of Ebola (2015) and The Land Beneath Our Feet (2016).

Ester de Roij (Cinematographer) is a UK-based cinematographer with 12 years of experience filming wildlife for the BBC, Netflix and Apple TV working on ground-breaking series like Frozen Planet 2, Secret Lives of Animals and Animals with Cameras. She has travelled all over the world filming anything from bears and penguins to ants and toads. Although she specializes in animal behavior, she also loves featuring human stories that focus on nature conservation and habitat championship.

Evelyn Franks (Editor) is an award-winning documentary editor and writer known for shaping character-driven narratives for major international broadcasters, streaming platforms, and global film festivals. Specialising in stories that intersect social justice, the environment and the human condition, she’s collaborative by nature and forensic with footage. Recent documentary films include Blue Carbon (CNN Films/HHMI Tangled Bank Studios), Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn (DOC NYC 2023, Mercury Studios), Bowery (Tribeca 2022) and Kuleana (Hawai’i International Film Festival 2025). Evelyn combines instinctive storytelling with rich tonal depth to deliver poignant, cinematic documentaries that resonate emotionally and perform across diverse global platforms.

Josh Earle (Motion Graphics Designer) began his career as a motion designer in London in 2012, freelancing on various projects before moving into positions as VFX and compositing for films, then into live visuals for performance over the following years. In 2019 he moved to Argentina and continued to develop his skills in studios based there for almost 3 years working within Latin America and internationally. He returned to his hometown of Perth, Western Australia for a few years where he focused more on motion graphics for film and broadcast projects. He now lives and works in Valencia, Spain.

Colin Wadsworth (Assembly Editor) is an experienced freelance video editor, based in London, specializing in documentaries, factual programming, promos and advertising. With a background in music, Colin offers a creative, emotionally sensitive approach to offline editing alongside strong sound design and music editing skill. Known for calmness under pressure, technical expertise and attention to detail in online, Colin is an expert in Premiere Pro and Avid, with advanced grading, motion graphics and post-production delivery knowledge. His work includes award-winning projects for BBC, UKTV, MTV, Vice, CNN, Red Bull and more.

Jess Wiegandt Gomez (Funding Researcher & Publicity) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who focuses on projects involving ecological conservation, endangered species awareness, and environmental justice. She is a cinematographer, editor, and producer, and aims to engage new audiences to tell stories of impact that encourage others to explore the world around them. Jess has her MFA in Film and Media Arts from American University and brings a background in backcountry guiding and experiential education to each project. For more of Jess’s work, visit jesswgomez.com.

Eric Antonio (Composer) is a Ghanaian music producer with a wealth of experience spanning over four decades. Eric has performed on different stages and recording studios within and outside Ghana, working with African artists including Kojo Antwi (Ghana), Hugh Masekela (South Africa), and Miatta Fahnbulleh (Liberia). In 2011, he performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, Norway honoring President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Eric is active as a producer and consultant in the Ghanaian music industry.

GomezBeatx (Tito Marshal Gomez, Composer) began his professional journey in 2000, initially gaining recognition through collaborations with local artists in Nigeria and later moved to his home country, Ghana, in 2007. His early work showcased a unique blend of traditional African sounds with modern musical elements, which quickly set him apart in the industry. He has worked with musical artists including Maxi Priest (UK) and Aziza Jaye (Jamaica), and has also composed music for various films, documentaries and television series produced in Ghana and Nigera, such as Road to My Father’s Compound, GH Queens, and Skinny Girl In Transit.

OUR FUNDERS

Supported under the project “Fragments of the Forest: Hot Zones, Disease Ecologies, and the Changing Landscape of Environment and Health in West Africa”, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant agreement No. 885120. https:// cor dis.eur opa.eu/