Ghost Elephants

South African conservation biologist Steve Boyes is convinced that, somewhere deep in the forests of Angola’s highlands, a previously undiscovered species of African elephant lives. He has been searching for these almost mythical animals for over ten years, a quest he continues with the world’s finest trackers, members of the San people. He wants to know whether these elephants, if they do indeed exist, are genetically related to a specimen shot in the 1950s that is on display, mounted, at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington. That is, in fact, the largest elephant ever seen by a human. German director Werner Herzog follows Boyes on his epic journey.

Herzog has made many wonderful feature films, but he has also more than earned his spurs in the field of documentary filmmaking, with films such as Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Into the Inferno. He always portrays his subjects with great visual flair, and Ghost Elephants is no different.