Lysander's Song

2011. 27 min. Directed by Cyril Christo, Marie Wilkinson.

What does the future of the elephant have to do with the future of childhood? Everything. This short documentary features interviews with native tribespeople primarily in northern Kenya on topics such as climate change, globalization, and life with the disappearing elephants. The film was screened on Tuesday, September 27, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

©Christo & Wilkinson Conservation Photography

FILM: Lysander’s Song

The film combines wildlife footage with the concerns and legends of the indigenous people, exploring their unique relationships to/with the elephant.

In Kenya, we explore and elaborate on the Samburu people’s relationship to their totem and the unique role the elephant plays in their belief system. Unlike most wildlife documentaries, we emphasize the essential role of ‘the other,’ that which the non-human plays in the mind and spiritual ecology of the human. In this challenged time, we believe that wildlife is an essential part of our identity

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