PRESS RELEASE:
For Immediate Release: Contact: Melanie Nathan, for Dream Out Loud Films, Nathan@AfricanHRC.org
ELEPHANT REFUGEES WORLD PREMIERE AT SONOMA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
A film by LOUISE HOGARTH
2020 / 81 Minutes / BOTSWANA / USA
Screening Format DCP NTFS/MAC
A crisis of elephantine proportions, playing out in the dry sandy Kalahari woodlands of eastern Botswana unfolds in Elephant Refugees, a feature length documentary by Academy Award winning filmmaker Louise Hogarth, as narrated by Game of Thrones’s Jerome Flynn (Serr Bronn of the Blackwater). This film follows the remarkable story of Ben and Marie Moller who retired to a remote northeastern corner of Botswana sixteen years ago to open a small bush-camp called Elephant Sands. Life changed forever for the Moller’s, when climate change intensified the frequent droughts, and hundreds of elephants arrived to drink water from their ancient pan.The film is slated for its World Premiere at the opening night of the Sonoma International Film Festival, July, 30, 2020.
When Botswana banned elephant poaching in 2014, something incredible happened: the news of the safe haven spread among herds, prompting a mass elephant migration into Botswana from neighboring countries.
Now, with nearly sixty percent of the world’s elephants residing in Botswana, the ecosystem is buckling under the pressure of supporting them. Climate change and unprecedented drought have created a water crisis for the masses of elephant refugees.
After a long and tiring journey in search of safety, many elephants end up at the Moller family’s bush lodge, Elephant Sands, in desperate need of water. From the frontlines of the climate crisis, the Moller family struggles to provide water to as many as 500 elephants a day. When the elephants don’t get what they need, they often break into the lodge bathrooms, turning on the faucets with their trunks and drinking out of the sinks and toilets. The Moller’s dedication to aiding the elephants is strong. But with dwindling resources, they can only do so much.
An unflinching look at the elephant migration crisis in Botswana, ELEPHANT REFUGEES documents the tragic and complex realities of unintended consequences.
UPDATE: In late 2019 the unimaginable happened in Botswana. The new government overturned the hunting ban and once again Botswana’s elephants are on the auction block. In January 2020 Safari Club International auctioned, a14-Day Elephant Hunt, in Botswana.
Sonoma International Film Festival:
When: July 30, 2020
Special Deal: Sales have opened, as a package with another film, The Guardian Elephant Warriors Of Reteti.
🔴 Click here and then click on the picture of Elephant Refugees to purchase both films at once! https://watch.eventive.org/sonoma2020
Webpage: https://dolfilms.org
PHOTO CREDITS: Alastair Lyne, Pieter Ras, Kari Collins
HASHTAGS:#SIFF #ElephantRefugees
IG/TW: @sonomafilmfest
PLEASE JOIN FB PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/elephantrefugees/
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CREDITS
DREAM OUT LOUD PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
A FILM BY LOUISE HOGARTH
PRODUCED AND WRITTEN BY
LOUISE HOGARTH and LYNN WEBB
NARRATED BY JEROME FLYNN
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ALISTAIR LYNE
EDITED BY MARIO DEL BELLO
DIRECTED BY LOUISE HOGARTH
DIRECTED BY
LOUISE HOGARTH
PRODUCED AND WRITTEN BY
LOUISE HOGARTH & LYNN WEBB
EDITED BY
MARIO DEL BELLO
HUIKAI CU
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ALISTAIR LYNE
ORIGINAL MUSIC BY
LAURA STEVENS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
LOUISE HOGARTH & LYNN WEBB
CO-PRODUCER
KARI COLLINS
ASSOCIATE PRODUCR
MARY CLARE GRIFFIN
SOUND MIXER
TIM PRINGLE
COLORIST
CRAIG PARKER
ANIMATION BY
3RD FLOOR ANIMATION STUDIO
ADDITIONAL EDITING
MARINA DU TOIT
MIKE MURPHY
ADDITIONAL CAMERA
MARTIN HARVEY
LOUISE HOGARTH
CONSULTING EDITOR
PAM SCOTT ARNOLD, ACE
VETERINARIAN
ERIK VERREYNNE
PRODUCTION ACCOUNTANT
WENDY WERNER
ASSISTANTS TO DIRECTOR
TERRA ROSENBERG
NANCY XU
TOM EVAN
TRANSCRIPTION
TERRA ROSENBERG
MATTHEW BELL
NAYZAK S. NAJM
ELBE VAN HEERDEN
LESLEY RAHME
INTERNS
SHUBHAM GOEL
MARTIN CUARTERO
KEON NADERI
FEATURING
BEN MOLLER
MARIE MOLLER
MIKE TOTH
SASKIA TOTH
TANYA TOTH
LAZARUS SIWYANGWIE
MARK MOULD
RYNHARDT ERASMUS
CASIDY WEBB
ESETHU MADWANTSI
WILBERT HOEDEMAKERERS
LEON KILLIAN
NUNO SIQUEIRA
KICKSTARTER SOCIAL MEDIA
KIRSTEN ROGERS
HARRIET CROOME
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
MAURICE KANBAR
SPECIAL THANKS
CECILIA HOGARTH
SPECIAL SPECIAL THANKS FEATURING
KICKSTARTER DONORS
ACCOMMODATIONS PROVIDED BY
ELEPHANT SANDS
PRODUCTION OFFICES PROVIDED BY
KANBAR ENTERTAINMENT
