The Elephant Queen
The Elephant Queen | |
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Directed by |
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Produced by | Lucinda Englehart |
Narrated by | Chiwetel Ejiofor |
Music by | Alex Heffes |
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Distributed by | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 96 minutes[1] |
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The Elephant Queen is a 2018 documentary film directed by Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble, and narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor. It tells the journey of a family of elephants in the African savannah when they are forced to leave their waterhole. The film was produced by Lucinda Englehart under the banner of Deeble & Stone.
At the 2019 Critics' Choice Movie Awards, The Elephant Queen was nominated for Best Science/Nature Documentary and Best Narration.
Plot
Athena, a 50-year-old mother elephant, is matriarch of a herd of adult females and male and female juveniles, which includes mother Mala, older daughter Milli, and newborn Mimi.[2] The elephants live in a bucolic area referred to as The Kingdom, with dotted waterholes.[2] The waterholes are also home to bullfrogs, chameleons, dung beetles, killifish, and terrapins.[2] In The Elephant Queen, the animals are characters with personalities who live in symbiotic harmony.[2] A drought forces the herd to leave their environment and travel far away to a savanna. But they must eat and drink plenty to endure 200 miles until the next waterhole. Matriarch Athena has the hard decision to wait for Mimi to get stronger for the long trip, or to voyage on towards her and her family’s safety.[2]
Cast
English actor Chiwetel Ejiofor narrates[3] the journey of the elephant family.[4]
Production
Directors Deeble and Stone stated that they never filmed elephants before as main subjects.[5] In 2009, a drought hit Amboseli National Park, Kenya, which "opened their eyes" to tell the elephants' story.[5] While talking about their immersive experience of capturing African elephants' life, the duo said:[6]
We were looking for a charismatic female elephant matriarch because it's very much a female leadership story, and we were looking for the ideal elephant for a long time.
— Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble, Deadline Hollywood
The duo followed the elephant Athena and her herd for over four years in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya.[6][7]
Release
On 8 September 2018, The Elephant Queen premiered at the
Reception
Critical response
On the
Accolades
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref(s). |
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2019 | Cinema for Peace Awards
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International Green Film Award | Won | [19] |
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | Best Science/Nature Documentary | Nominated | [20] | |
Best Narration | Nominated | |||
2020 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Narrator | Nominated | [21] |
References
- ^ Jaworowski, Ken (17 October 2019). "'The Elephant Queen' Review: Magnificent Images of Majestic Animals". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "'The Elephant Queen': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ "Review: 'The Elephant Queen' documentary delivers drama and emotion on African savanna". Los Angeles Times. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ Mann, Randi (7 October 2019). "Watch AppleTV+'s 'The Elephant Queen' Trailer, The Ultimate Family Film". ET Canada. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ a b "The AFI DOCS Interview: THE ELEPHANT QUEEN With Directors Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone | American Film Institute". Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (28 January 2019). "'The Elephant Queen' Filmmakers on Long Search For "The Ideal Elephant" – Sundance Studio". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ "The Elephant Queen: An Intimate Story About The Most Majestic Animals In Africa". nationalparkstraveler.org. Archived from the original on 20 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
- ^ Alcinii, Daniele (7 September 2018). "TIFF '18 Exclusive clip: "The Elephant Queen"". RealScreen. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ "The Elephant Queen". BFI London Film Festival. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ Roka, Les (28 January 2019). "Sundance 2019: The Elephant Queen achieves gold standard in wildlife documentary genre | The Utah Review". Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ "The Elephant Queen | Montclair Film". montclairfilm.org. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ "The Elephant Queen". Sydney Film Festival. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ a b Donnelly, Matt (27 September 2019). "Apple Sets Theatrical Release Dates for Original Films 'The Banker,' 'Hala' and 'The Elephant Queen' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ "The Elephant Queen (2018)", Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, archived from the original on 16 October 2019, retrieved 30 October 2021
- ^ The Elephant Queen, archived from the original on 9 November 2019, retrieved 9 November 2019
- ^ "The Elephant Queen – Movie Review". Common Sense Media. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ Tobias, Scott (12 September 2018). "Toronto Film Review: 'The Elephant Queen'". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- Point of View. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- Cinema for Peace.
- ^ "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards". Critics' Choice Awards. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
- ^ "The Elephant Queen". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
External links
- The Elephant Queen – official site
- The Elephant Queen – promo site
- The Elephant Queen at IMDb