Carlos Carvalho, an award-winning filmmaker, has died after a fatal accident involving a giraffe while on location in South Africa. He was 47.
CallaCrew, a film crew agency in South Africa, announced the news in a message published to Facebook on Thursday.
“It is with a very sad heart that we have to announce the passing of Carlos Carvalho, one of our favorite DOPs,” it read. “Carlos was filming a feature at Glen Afric [Country Lodge] and had a fatal run in with a giraffe on set. He was flown to Milpark Hospital [in Johannesburg] but succumbed to his injuries [at] 20:50 last night. Our thoughts and condolences go out to Carlos’ family and friends during this very sad time. He will be sorely missed.”
Reps for the Glen Afric Country Lodge, a Northwest Province game lodge, and CallaCrew were not immediately available for comment. But Richard Brooker, whose family owns the lodge, told The Telegraph, “When Carlos was standing in front of the giraffe, the animal spread its legs, bent its neck and swung its head at Carlos.”
Drikus Van Der Merwe, a member of the film crew, also told the outlet, “[The animal] started chasing the boom swinger who joined our unit. The giraffe followed him but we didn’t feel threatened because he just seemed to be inquisitive. We started shooting close ups of its body and its feet. Then while Carlos was looking through the camera eyepiece Gerald (the giraffe) swung his neck and hit him against his head. It came out of nowhere and Carlos didn’t even see it coming. He wasn’t aware of the danger.”
“He was unauthorized to film,” a rep for the lodge told News.com.au. “He went off on his own. He wanted to get some shots to prove a point. He was trying to excel.”
Carvalho won the Silver Lion at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003 for a public service announcement for Childline. In 2014, he won an African Movie Academy Award for The Forgotten Kingdom, for which he served as cinematographer.
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