The Asian Elephant like you’ve never seen it before.

The Asian Elephant Elephas Maximus holds a fundamental place in the Indian civilisation. Nevertheless, it is threatened.

Prajna Chowta, ethnologist by training, and her husband, director Philippe Gautier have settled in South India, with their two tamed elephants Kalpana and Kunti, in the heart of the Mysore forest, the Asian forest that’s most populated by elephants.

Prajna and Philippe filmed these creatures with never-before proximity. Of this was made a three-series documentary film, whose protagonist is Prajna.

Elephant and Man: Memory

In the couple’s farm, the mahouts – trainers - work daily with the elephants. The point is to attain mutual consent, not submission. Prajna, who has an exceptional knowledge of and relationship with the elephant, recounts the sensual and the cultural tie between man and elephant.

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Meetings with the remarkable animals: Survival

Prajna leads a search for wild elephants. At the end of the journey, after having overcome the danger of a forest fire, the couple succeed in reaching these animals of which very little images exist. Prajna retraces their migrations, their evolution in the history of the species – illustrated with 3D images – and the dangers they face.

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God and Elephant: Myth

Deep in the forest, the villagers pay homage to Ganesh, the God-elephant. They sing, dance, and decorate the elephant, while elsewhere in a big urban temple, an elephant begins its day, amidst devotees who flock in. With the help of these two authentic spiritual expressions, Prajna explores man’s fascination for this animal and its representation in the Hindu Mythology, mainly through Lord Ganesha, with the elephant head and the child body.

All the mythical and spiritual dimensions of the Asian Elephant, the threats that menace the species conclude this story, told by the woman who has dedicated her life to the creature.