Before its rescue, baby orphaned elephant, Khanyisa, was severely injured and survived for a few days on her own.
The journey of the three-month-old Albino elephant is well featured in the documentary,Diary of an Elephant Orphan, written and directed by Hermien Roelvert-Van Gils.
The film digs into the lives of orphaned elephants in Africa, capturing the heart-wrenching journey of these majestic creatures as they navigate through loss, survival, and hope.
In the past decade, Southern Africa witnessed a surge in orphaned and displaced elephant calves due to increased poaching, human encroachment, and habitat destruction.
The Hoedspruit Elephant Rehabilitation and Development, South Africa’s first elephant orphanage, was established to provide adoptive family structures crucial for the well-being of these orphaned elephants.
Featuring a baby elephant in the leading role is quite challenging for the director. The first question that comes to mind is how he will be able to employ this main character and make us feel and understand her suffering, especially when it is not an animated movie where animals can speak and give reactions.
However, the director succeeds in delivering even the unspoken feelings of his main character, elephant Khanyisa.
The documentary shows the baby elephant whilecaregivers feed her milk made especially for baby elephants which lose their mothers, her playtime, her loneliness without her family and mother and how the caregivers spend day and the night with her.
In one of the loveliest scenes, baby Khanyisameets Joublani, a big elephant rescued in 1997. She touches his body with her trunk as if she is exploring him. The camera closes in on the trunk while touching Joublani, so we feel that she is finally finding someone who looks like her.
Being so small beside him, she seems to find someone she belongs to.
Like Khanyisa, Joublani was an orphanedelephant who passed through the same journey of Khanyisa.
The director inserted footage of the time when the team rescued Joublani in 1997 in South Africa.
The carers tried to integrate him back into the wild, but he rejected the wild for two yearsbecause Joublani thinks he is human, according to carers. This is exactly what they fear about Khanyisa.
However, in 2002, a group of orphaned elephantswere evacuated from their land in Zimbabwe and delivered in trucks to South Africa where Joublanifound a family where one of the female elephants treated him like her son.
To integrate Khanyisa in the wild, the carers decide to make her meet other elephants from time to time.
One of the most compelling aspects of Diary of an Elephant Orphan is its exploration of human intervention in wildlife conservation.
The documentary highlights the efforts of dedicated conservationists and caretakers who work tirelessly to rehabilitate orphaned elephants and prepare them for eventual release back into the wild.
The music by composer Ben Willem plays an important role in the film. It is a very African style with human humming similar to the famous soundtrack of The Lion King.
In each scene, when Khanyisa takes a new step in her new life, the music makes this moment deeper and more emotional.
The music serves as a powerful storytelling tool that immerses viewers into Khanyisa’s world.
The interviews which the director does with caregivers and doctors are well crafted. Each phrase is used in the right place with the scenes and cuts on the elephants.
The carers speak with passion about their work. They consider those elephants as their family.
Diary of an Elephant Orphan is a must-watch for anyone interested in wildlife and animal behaviour, especially of elephants.
Discussion about this post