We caught up with actress & animal activist Virginia McKenna during her visit to San Francisco’s Green Film Festival. This year marks the 50th anniversary of “Born Free,” that stars McKenna and Bill Travers, her husband. The film is based on the true story.  Joy Adamson’s book Born Free captured how she and her husband helped raise Elsa, an orphaned lion cub. The book was an instant success and the film was even a bigger success.

In this interview we spoke to McKenna about the making of “Born Free,” and her passionate advocacy for animal rights. McKenna and her husband founded the Born Free Foundation, which now runs with the help of her son Will Travers.