The Professor

Director: Naima Maleika Cinematographer: Carlos Francisco “Walking with Koos in the veld is like walking with a botanical colleague, only it's a little bit more interesting” Prof. Ben-Erik van Wyk. Having Khoi-San ancestry Koos Paulse carries an immense amount of indigenous plant use knowledge. Professor Ben-Erik van Wyk is a renowned ethnobotanist at the University of Johannesburg who has come to visit Koos in the Suidbokkeveld. His discription of Koos as “the professor of the veld” is strongly contrasted with Koos’s painful past. This is a story about change, recognition and dignity.