National Geographic announced it has acquired the streaming rights to "Ghost Elephants," which is written, directed and narrated by Werner Herzog and features National Geographic Explorer Steve Boyes.
The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and will also play at the Telluride Film Festival.
The documentary follows Herzog and Boyes as they journey to Angola and the depths of Africa's last great subtropical rainforest to search for the elusive ghost elephants, the potential living descendants of the largest land mammal ever recorded.
At a press conference at the festival, Herzog spoke about how he went about filming the elephants.
"They are not aggressive when they are in water, when they're wading in water. And it's basically some sort of a metal stick with a camera attached. And the camera is wading in the water that deep and follows elephants. There was footage, for example, where the camera moves up and out of the water and all of a sudden very realistically, you see the reality of the elephant. And I said, no, no no. The beauty of it is that it's like a dream of an elephant," Herzog said.
While in Venice, Herzog was honored with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award.
"All my films have a common worldview, the same basic vision of the world. And because of that, I cannot be imitated easily," he said.
That's certainly true!
"Ghost Elephants" will stream on Disney+ and Hulu in 2026.
