Filmed across four years, ‘The Elephant Queen’ is an Apple TV+ documentary brought to the screen by husband and wife filmmakers Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble. The British couple – who have made East Africa their home for 30 years – decided to work on the documentary after seeing firsthand how elephants are suffering as water becomes increasingly scarce. Shot in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park, ‘The Elephant Queen’ traces the matriarch Athena and her family as she marches them across the African bush in search for water during a severe drought. What unfolds is a life and death fight for survival and an illustration of how multiple species depend on the elephant’s ability to seek out waterholes. The film is narrated by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. More than just a wildlife documentary, Victoria and Mark describe their project as a ‘love story.’ It’s also a valuable insight into how climate change is affecting the very existence of a beloved animal.
