Elephant Path
93 MIN
Filmmakers scheduled to attend
Helen
documentary • English • 2018 • Digital • USA • 14 MIN
A surprising tale of adoption, alternative lifestyles, creative homemaking, love, and loss from the creators of WFF 2017 selection The Bear and the Owl. (BR)
section: Wisconsin's Own
Director: Todd McGrain
Producer: Todd McGrain, Scott Anger
Editor:Andrew Stern, Sara Khaki, Todd McGrain
Cinematographer: Scott Anger
Elephant Path
documentary • English • 2017 • HD Digital • USA • 79 MIN
This urgent documentary, a feat of empathy, artistry, and derring-do, examines the plight of forest elephants in the Central African Republic and the people who protect them. In sun-dappled Dzanga National Park, elephants play, bathe, and raise families under the watchful eye of Sessely Bernard, an elder of the Bayaka tribe, and American biologist Andrea Turkalo. Throughout the Congo basin, however, ivory poachers have exacted an alarming, violent toll, slaughtering thousands of these majestic creatures per year. With great patience and humanity, Elephant Path spotlights the bravery of eco-guards like Zephirine Mbele and the friendships formed between these selfless guardians of the animal kingdom. A sculptor by training, Todd McGrain transforms stunning, front-line footage into a study of elephant life in all its beauty and fragility. Winner of a 2019 Golden Badger Award. (ZZ)
Presented with support from UW-Madison African Studies Program
section: Wisconsin's Own