GHOST ELEPHANTS (2025)

Join us for an exclusive screening of Werner Herzog’s GHOST ELEPHANTS (2025), followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker, Pavle Levi (Chair of the Department of Art & Art History and Osgood Hooker Professor of Fine Arts), Katie Solari (Associate Director of the Program for Conservation Genomics), and Dmitri Petrov (Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Department of Biology; Director of the Program for Conservation Genomics; CZ Biohub Investigator). Advance registration is required. Registered attendees are invited to a pre-screening reception at 4:30pm in the outdoor McMurtry Atrium. Light refreshments will be served.

Film Synopsis
For a decade, Dr. Steve Boyes has been in search of a mysterious elusive herd of Ghost Elephants in the highlands of Angola, a wooded plateau — virtually uninhabited, but in size as large as England. He sets out with master trackers from Namibia, the best remaining in the world, but there is a deep underlying question: would it not be better to keep these gigantic elephants rather as a dream, as ghosts, as the White Whale, than finding them in reality?

Director’s Statement
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.

Film duration: 98 min.

Filmmaker Bio
Werner Herzog is an internationally renowned, award-winning filmmaker. He has produced, written, and directed more than sixty feature- and documentary films, such as Aguirre der Zorn Gottes (AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD, 1972), Nosferatu Phantom der Nacht (NOSFERATU, 1978), FITZCARRALDO (1982), Lektionen in Finsternis (LESSONS OF DARKNESS, 1992), LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY (1997), Mein liebster Feind (MY BEST FIEND, 1999), INVINCIBLE (2000), GRIZZLY MAN (2005), ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2007), Die Höhle der vergessenen Träume (CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, 2010). Werner Herzog has published more than a dozen books of prose, and directed as many operas. Werner Herzog lives in Munich and Los Angeles.

This screening is co-sponsored by the Department of Biology, the Petrov Lab and Program for Conservation Genomics, and the Department of Art & Art History.

Visitor Information
This event is open to Stanford affiliates and the general public. Space for this program is limited; advance registration is required. Those who have registered will have priority for seating. Admission is free.

Oshman Hall is located within the McMurtry Building on Stanford campus at 355 Roth Way. Visitor parking is available in designated areas and is free after 4pm on weekdays. Alternatively, take the Caltrain to Palo Alto Transit Center and hop on the free Stanford Marguerite Shuttle. If you need a disability-related accommodation or wheelchair access information, please contact Diana Vasquez at mayafrau [at] stanford.edu (mayafrau[at]stanford[dot]edu).