Mister Smith Entertainment is debuting the documentary “The Elephant Queen” to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin, Variety has learned exclusively.
The movie tells the inspiring story of an elephant matriarch who leads her family on an epic journey across Africa, as told by filmmakers Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone. It offers a similar take as 2005’s “March of the Penguins,” which explored the dynamics of the flightless birds in the Antarctic and grossed $127 million worldwide.
Currently in post-production, Stone produced “The Elephant Queen” with Lucinda Englehart. Mister Smith Entertainment is handling U.S. and international sales on the film. EFM opens on Feb. 14 in conjunction with the Berlin Film Festival.
MSE’s David Garrett said, “This is the kind of joyous, life-affirming movie which is both such a pleasure and such a rarity nowadays. It is a film that no one should miss.”
The star of the film is Athena, the leader of a community that lives at the waterhole in her kingdom. It also follows Mimi, the herd’s adorable newborn, and the mischievous toddler Weiwei. When the dry season turns into drought and their waterhole dries up, Athena’s family is forced to travel out into the badlands in search of food and water. Athena must recall the treacherous path she once travelled with her own mother, and must make some of life’s most difficult choices to protect the ones she loves.
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“We lived in the African bush for 25 years with elephants as neighbors before we felt we’d learned enough about them to make a film that would do them justice,” Deeble said.
Stone said, “The elephants let us into their world and it turned out to be so like ours. A world that revolves around love, family bonds, and those all-important decisions.”
