Ghost Elephants

Must-See Docs
  • nightvision footage of an elephant
  • a man with a beard and hat in front of a rainbow
  • underwater shot of an elephants feet and tail
  • man with hat pointing to an elephant in a museum
  • a group of men sitting together
  • a man with a cap standing in a field

Showings

Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema Sat, Sep 12 4:00 PM
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Film Info
Copyright:2025
Country Listing:USA
Runtime:98
Cast/Crew Info
Director(s):Werner Herzog

Description

"After meeting Steve Boyes, an unexpected project that felt like the hunt for Moby Dick, the White Whale, came at me with great urgency. Like many of my films, this is an exploration of dreams, of imagination—weighed against reality. The film took me to what the local tribesmen call the 'Land at the End of the Earth.'" – Werner Herzog, February 2026


In the mist-covered highlands of Angola, deep within its forests, a mystery endures: the elusive ghost elephants of Lisima, the potential living descendants of the largest land mammal ever recorded. Steve Boyes, conservation biologist and leader of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, is determined to prove their existence.

In order to find these elusive elephants, Boyes and fellow National Geographic explorer Kerllen Costa have teamed up with three Khoisan master trackers: Xui, Xui Dawid, and Kobus. Refugees from a war-torn past who have faced considerable marginalization in southern Africa, the trackers return to their ancestral lands to succeed where advanced technology could not.

Directed, narrated and written by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, Ghost Elephants is a lyrical tale of survival, reconnection and the enduring power of ancient knowledge in the face of modern loss.



TICKETS
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General: $15

Members: $10, $8, FREE