Why are we doing this and what are we trying to achieve?
A question we get asked all the time is why we want to do this. We see it more as why not, but if we want to explain a bit more what we want to get out of this, it can really be split into three main parts.​
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The main driving force behind this is the emotion that drives every explorer at heart: we want to be the first ones that determine, for once and for all, the true source of the Nile. Not many people realise it, but the true source of the Nile is still unknown. Interestingly enough there has never been much of a public dispute, but it still unknown according to the main experts and guiding institutions of cartography and geographic.
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What originally started as a sort of side project has now become a true project on its own: the documentary. We want to turn this expedition into a documentary that brings it all together as a story. The preparation, the expedition, the human factor, the mix it will undoubtedly be of moments of glory and moments of misery, but also the history and science around it, the importance of the Nile even now, all the historic events that took place on or around the Nile in the last 5,000 or so years.
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And finally, there are the side projects. Alex wants to use the opportunity to visit and study and film some areas and places in function of his own search for a new revealing history theory, Jef wants to see if we can film the whole Nile using drones during the trip. There might be specific events set up for sponsors or participants, who knows.
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But of course, still, by far, the most important reason why we do all this: why not?
The search for the true source
The search for the source of the Nile has a whole history. Alex will write here more about that in due time.
The documentary
From the beginning, a documentary was always part of the plan. However, over time, the documentary has taken a more prominent place, partly because making a documentary can also be a good way to get access to funding. If potential partners know there is a documentary being made (and is already planned and funded by itself), we assume it will be easier to get them on board. A hypothesis that needs validation still!
But more important than getting access to funding is of course the documentary itself. Ideally, it will be a mix of things: the preparation of the trip, the expedition itself, some history, maybe some mini-documentaries of the places we visit, and of course the human factor end to end. A project of this caliber will undoubtedly create friction, put friendships and relations to the test, have interesting interactions before and during, and by giving enough attention to that, we think the documentary will become more alive, instead of just being about an expedition.
Probably the first step to do is find a documentary maker. Ideally someone with already some experience, not only with the actual filming and scripting, but more with the whole process of making a documentary from beginning till end, including finding producers, potential grants and other funding, experience with the kind of equipment needed for this kind of filming etc.
How to find a documentary maker is still an open question, but we will probably start on Reddit in the documentary sub. We have no idea if finding somebody interested and suitable will be difficult or not - but we will keep you updated in the blog. Before looking for somebody though, we want to have the website having a bit more content - that is, after all, for now our only existence in public so to speak, and we would imagine any potential documentary maker to check out the website first - so if you are reading this, yes, it's you we are looking for!
Once we do have a documentary maker on board, well, that's when things will really start. As said, the idea is to have the preparation of the expedition also as part of the documentary, so we will have to see how that works in practice. Working on a script, finding producers, getting the required equipment and starting to look (probably) for a camera man to be part of the expedition will undoubtedly part of the many actions we need to do - but stay tuned for that for more to come.