Werner Herzog, the acclaimed documentarian behind Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, is back with a new naturalist feature about an epic quest to find Angola’s elusive “ghost elephants,” believed to be the descendants of the largest land mammal ever recorded.
Produced by National Geographic Documentary Films, Ghost Elephants features the writer/director’s signature German-accented narration as he follows conservation biologist Steve Boyes and a team of Angolan master trackers in a trek to spot the mythical beasts that were presumed extinct after decades of civil war but have now reappeared in the highland wilderness.
The documentary—which premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where Herzog was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement—supplements the filmmaker’s philosophical aura with gorgeous cinematography of mists rolling across rugged African landscapes and fleeting images of the elephants themselves.
“The largest elephant ever,” Herzog muses in the film. “Does it matter if they are a dream or a reality?” He later asks Boyes, “Could it be that they are your imagination, that you are after ghosts that don’t exist?” Boyes responds, “They will always exist. They always could be there. And I can go back for the rest of my life looking for them.”
While the movie focuses on the team’s obsessive search to find the herd, there are enthralling scenes of elephants trundling underwater in slow-motion as well as grim footage of 1960s-era big game hunters gunning them down from the safety of a glass-domed chopper.
Herzog’s cultural imprint is vast enough to encompass a well-received 2023 memoir, Every Man For Himself and God Against All, his name emblazoned across a t-shirt with Danzig’s horned skull logo, and acting roles in The Mandalorian and Jack Reacher. Fans of the veteran independent filmmaker will find much to appreciate here, even if it falls short of Grizzly Man’s dizzyingly high standards.
Complementing the film is Boyes’ new coffee table book, Okavango and the Source of Life (Disney Books), which features more than 100 photos, detailed maps, and personal reflections from years of expeditions into the Angolan wilderness. Ghost Elephants airs on National Geographic on March 7, and streams on Disney+ and Hulu beginning March 8. Watch the trailer below.
