Silverback

Follow filmmaker Vianet Djenguet as he documents a grueling but vital mission to habituate a notoriously protective 500-pound silverback, in a last-ditch effort to save the critically endangered Eastern lowland gorillas from extinction.

Filmmaker Vianet Djenguet documents the dangerous but vital process of habituating a notoriously protective 500-pound silverback. Habituation is a last-ditch effort to save the critically endangered Eastern lowland gorillas from extinction but it does not come without risks.

As the gorilla troops become more comfortable with filmmaker Vianet Djenguet and his group, they reveal the most intimate parts of family life. During this time, a mother gorilla feeds her infant within the gaze of the outsiders.

For the first time, cameraman Vianet Djenguet captures the face of the forest's 500-pound silverback. This large -- and protective -- silverback called Mpungwe leads a family of 23 gorillas.