Mia And The White Lion

"Mia And The White Lion" is the heartfelt story of an extraordinary friendship between a young girl and a white lion, and her incredible adventure across the South African savanna to give her best friend a new home.
Filmed over the course of three years, the movie centers on a willful young girl named Mia whose life is turned upside down when her family decides to leave London to manage a lion farm in South Africa. When a beautiful white lion, Charlie, is born, Mia finds happiness once again and develops a special bond with the growing cub. As Charlie grows to full size, Mia uncovers an upsettling secret kept hidden by her father. Distraught that Charlie could be in danger, Mia decides to rescue him. The two friends set out on an incredible journey across the South African savanna in search of a sanctuary where Charlie can live out his life in freedom. As a footnote to the theme of this movie: 250,000 wild lions reigned over Africa 100 years ago. Their population has fallen by 90 percent and in 2017, according to experts, there are less than 20,000 left. Lions aren’t considered an “endangered species” but if their numbers continue to fall at the same rate, they will have completely disappeared in the wild in 20 years time. In South Africa, in the past 10 years, over 10,000 lions have been trophy hunted in “canned lion” hunts, a legal industry. They are coming from breeding farms. Most of those farms are not sanctuaries, but places where lion cubs are bred for slaughter, volunteers are duped and tourists are lied to. Support the Kevin Richardson Foundation to help bring an end to “canned lion hunting.” (Gary Reber)