ABOUT GHOST ELEPHANTS
In the mist-covered highlands of Angola, deep within its forests, a mystery endures: the elusive ghost elephants of Lisima, the potential living descendants of the largest land mammal ever recorded. Steve Boyes, conservation biologist and leader of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, is determined to prove their existence. In order to find these elusive elephants, Boyes and fellow National Geographic Explorer Kerllen Costa have teamed up with three KhoiSan master trackers: Xui, Xui Dawid, and Kobus. Refugees from a war-torn past who have faced considerable marginalization in southern Africa, the trackers return to their ancestral lands to succeed where advanced technology could not. Directed, narrated and written by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, GHOST ELEPHANTS is a lyrical tale of survival, reconnection and the enduring power of ancient knowledge in the face of modern loss. Complementing the film is the coffee table book “Okavango and the Source of Life” by Steve Boyes, releasing March 3 in tandem with the documentary. The book expands the journey beyond the screen, featuring more than 100 striking photographs, detailed maps, and Boyes’ personal reflections from years of grueling expeditions to the Angolan headwaters of the Okavango. It documents the same remaining waterways, communities and fragile ecosystems explored in the film, conveying the physical and emotional toll of navigating a wilderness long closed off by war. With a foreword by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and portraits of local traditional knowledge keepers, the book offers an intimate and visually rich companion to the cinematic experience. The “Source of Life” refers to the Angolan Highlands Water Tower, the lifeline that sustains the Okavango Basin across Angola, Namibia and Botswana. This vital system provides 95% of the water for the Okavango Delta supports people, wildlife and the ecosystems of seven African nations.
After meeting Steve Boyes, an unexpected project that felt like the hunt for Moby Dick, the White Whale, came at me with great urgency. Like many of my films, this is an exploration of dreams, of imagination — weighed against reality. The film took me to what the local tribesmen call the “Land at the End of the Earth.”
-Werner Herzog, February 2026
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For over a decade, Dr. Steve Boyes, conservation biologist and National Geographic Explorer, has been in search of a mysterious, elusive herd of Ghost Elephants in the highlands of Angola, deep within its forests. From acclaimed director Werner Herzog (“Grizzly Man”), GHOST
ELEPHANTS follows Boyes on an epic journey as he sets out with some of the best master trackers in the world, in pursuit of an animal long believed to be a myth.
PARTICIPANT BIOS
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National Geographic Explorer and Conservation Biologist
National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes has dedicated his life to conserving Africa’s wilderness areas and the species that depend on them through innovative and integrative methods. In 2015, Boyes launched the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, a multiyear effort to explore and protect the little-known wilderness of the Angolan Highlands that provides over 95% of the water that sustains the Okavango Delta and the biodiversity of the greater Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. His team’s efforts to advance scientific research, scale conservation efforts, and preserve traditional knowledge are supported by the Okavango Eternal partnership between the National Geographic Society and the De Beers Group. He is the founder and chairman of the Wild Bird Trust and The Wilderness Project, and a senior research fellow at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology (University of Cape Town). Boyes is also an author, TED speaker and storyteller. His films, “Into the Okavango” and “Ghost Elephants,” reveal the importance of vital ecosystems and the people, wildlife and biodiversity they nourish.
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National Geographic Explorer, Ethnobiologist and Environmental Anthropologist
Kerllen Costa has dedicated his career to protecting Angola’s natural and cultural heritage. As the Angola country director for the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, he has led scientific expeditions deep into some of southern Africa’s most remote rivers, while advocating for the powerful role of Indigenous ecological knowledge. Together with Boyes, Costa went on a mission to follow a mysterious herd of Ghost Elephants in the jungles of Angola. Their exciting adventures have been featured in National Geographic’s documentary “Ghost Elephants,” which premiered at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival. Costa was a recipient of the National Geographic Society’s 2024 Wayfinder Award.
FILM TEAM BIOS
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Born in Munich in 1942, Werner Herzog grew up as a child in a remote valley in the Bavarian mountains. Until age 11, he did not even know of the existence of cinema. He started to develop film projects from age 15 on, and since no one was willing to finance them, he worked the night shift as a welder in a steel factory during the last years of high school. He also started to travel on foot. He made his first phone call at age 17 and his first film at 19. He dropped out of college where he studied history and literature. Since then, he has written, produced, and directed some 80 films, has published books of prose, staged about a dozen operas, acted in films, and founded his own Rogue Film School.
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Born and raised in Israel, Ariel Leon Isacovitch spent the last 20 years floating in different seas, with a mixed cultural background. His natural sense of curiosity led him to lay roots in South America. Isacovitch is the owner of The Roots Production Service with offices in Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. A member of the advisory board of the U.S. initiative Green The Bid, Isacovitch helps to educate the film industry to be more sustainable. Since founding The Roots Production Service 10 years ago, he has been a partner and producer on Werner Herzog’s last five films.
PRODUCTION COMPANIES
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National Geographic Documentary Films, part of a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world premium, feature documentaries that cover timely, provocative and globally relevant stories from the very best documentary filmmakers. Its award-winning and critically acclaimed films reach 300 million people worldwide in 180 countries and 33 languages across the global National Geographic channels and direct-to-consumer platforms Disney+ and Hulu. Recent films include winner of the Cinema and Arts Award for Best Film at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival “The Tale of Silyan,” Oscar® and Peabody nominee “Sugarcane,” Oscar-nominated and Peabody Award winner “Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” critically acclaimed and festival standout “Love+War,” Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated “Fire of Love,” Emmy® and Peabody Award winner “The Territory,” BAFTA nominees “The Rescue” and “Becoming Cousteau,” and Oscar- and BAFTA winner “Free Solo.” For more information, visit films.nationalgeographic.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Sobey Road Entertainment is producing and financing seminal music, sports and impact documentaries with some of the world's most acclaimed filmmakers. Sobey—and its Oscar® , Emmy®, BAFTA and Peabody-winning co-producers—create authentic cinematic portraits with an emphasis on integrity in storytelling. Sobey co-financed and produced Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, directed by Ally Pankiw, which premiered in competition at the Toronto International Film Festival and debuted on Hulu in September as the platform’s #2 film. Sobey recently produced the Emmy-winning Hulu docuseries Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers, directed by Antoine Fuqua, and is currently in postproduction on the definitive Gene Wilder documentary, directed by Emmy winner Chris Smith. Sobey also served as executive producer on Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It, directed by Emmy winner Paris Barclay. For more information, visit sobeyroadentertainment.com or find us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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Skellig Rock, Inc. is a film production company founded by legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog in 2008. The company is associated with Herzog’s work as a producer and creator, and its name reflects Herzog’s long-standing artistic connection to Skellig Rock, a dramatic Irish island that has inspired him since filming there.
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We are filmmakers with a passion for bringing creative ideas to life through collaboration and hard work. With offices in Mexico, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina, we guarantee the highest quality and value on every production. Reliable service forms the roots of our company. By combining years of expertise and passion, we strive for excellence and integrity on every project. We make the impossible possible. We are not worldwide but borderless. Recent Highlights: Lady Gaga Music Video by Tim Burton, "Ghost Elephants" by Werner Herzog sold to National Geographic Documentary Films, "Bucking Fastard" by Werner Herzog in post-production.
SUPPORT
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Abramorama, the theatrical releasing division of AB2 Media Group, is a preeminent global distribution and marketing partner for nonfiction, narrative, sports and music films and is recognized for the consistent high quality of its work. AB2 provides best-in-class sales and strategic advisory services to intellectual property stakeholders, including acclaimed filmmakers, major networks, premier record labels, digital platforms and high-profile artists.
Over the course of more than 25 years, Abramorama has successfully distributed and marketed hundreds of films, including the record breaking Hello, Love, Again directed byCathy Garcia-Sampana and The Last Class directed by Elliot Kirschner; Oliver Stone’s Nuclear Now; Sam Green’s 32 Sounds, Vanessa & Ted Hope’s Invisible Nation; Ron Howard’s Grammy Award®-winning The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years; Stanley Nelson’s Miles Davis: Birth of The Cool; Atlantic Records and Melanie Martinez’ K-12; John McDermott’s Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church; Amir Bar-Lev's Long Strange Trip – The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead; Tabbert Fiiller’s The Public Image Is Rotten; Danny Clinch and Pearl Jam’s Let’s Play Two; Corbett Redford and Green Day’s Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk; John Scheinfeld’s Chasing Trane – The John Coltrane Documentary; Brett Bern's BANG! The Bert Berns Story; Brett Morgen and National Geographic’s seminal Jane; Asif Kapadia’s Senna; Neil Young’s vast catalog of Bernard Shakey Productions; Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam Twenty; Sacha Gervasi’s Spirit Award-winning Anvil! The Story of Anvil; Banksy’s Academy Award® nominated & Spirit Award-winning Exit Through the Gift Shop; Laurie Anderson’s New York Times critics’ pick, Heart of a Dog; Showtime’s National Board of Review Winner Listen to Me Marlon; Academy Award®-nominee and IDA Best Documentary Winner The Look of Silence; and the episodic multi-platform series Deconstructing The Beatles. In January of 2019, AB2 launched a live multicast streaming programming from Paris, France for the 55-country release of Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielberg’s Who Will Write Our History and launched the first paid feature film to premiere globally on META in 2021.
For more information, please visit www.AB2mediagroup.com.
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Since 2015, the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project (NGOWP) has been working with communities and governments to secure permanent, sustainable protection for the greater Okavango Basin—which spans Angola, Namibia, and Botswana. A team of Explorers, local and regional experts, and partners at the Wild Bird Trust are working to accomplish this through rigorous scientific research, advancing traditional knowledge, impactful conservation education projects, and storytelling about the ecosystem and people who live there. In 2021, National Geographic and De Beers entered a partnership, Okavango Eternal, to expand and accelerate work already underway.