film
Ghosts Elephants
directed by Werner Herzog, USA 2025, 98'
- Mad scientists and explorers are Werner Herzog’s favorite cinematic subjects. This time, the director focuses on the search for giant ghost elephants, whose distant relative is on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
- Dr. Steve Boyes tracks a herd hiding from humanity in Angola, across an uninhabited territory the size of England that locals call the end of the world. Herzog documents his protagonist's obsessions, dreams, and the work of his imagination, posing the question: wouldn't it be better for these elephants to remain out of human reach and live on purely as the titular ghosts? Is the tribal chief who grants permission for the search right when he says that the destiny of elephants is directly intertwined with the destiny of humans?