South African Filmmaker Carlos Carvalho, Dies After Head Butt From Giraffe.

Filmmaker Carlos Carvalho, was working on a feature film when a bull giraffe named Gerald swung its head at him at the Glen Africa Country Lodge in the North West Province on Wednesday night.

The 47-year-old father-of-two was flown by helicopter to hospital in Johannesburg, where he later died from his head injuries.

“When Carlos was standing in front of the giraffe, the animal spread its legs, bent its neck and swung its head at Carlos,” said Richard Brooker, whose family owns the lodge.

“Gerald will remain at the lodge. He did nothing wrong,” Mr Brooker said.

Drikus Van Der Merwe, a member of the film crew, said he was standing next to Mr Carvalho when the incident happened.

“He started chasing the boom swinger who joined our unit,” he said. ‘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 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 said.

“I could see he was unconscious I knew he had a severe head trauma. But I never thought he would die.”

Father of two, Carlos Carvalho died at Johannesburg’s Netcare Milpark Hospital.

In 2014, Mr Carvalho, who was the director of photography for The Forgotten Kingdom, the first feature film produced in Lesotho, won the Haskell Wexler Award for Best Cinematography at the 14th annual Woodstock Film Festival Maverick Awards Gala held in New York.

Source: The telegraph UK.