Yesterday marked the last day of the Los Angeles Film Festival. “One Lucky Elephant”, a documentary, had its world premiere at the film festival. It is a story that explores the issues with keeping wild animals in capitvity but also captures the intimate relationship between man and pet. The pet elephant’s name is Flora and her keeper’s name is David Balding. Flora worked in a St. Louis circus for 16 years with David. Eventually David realized Flora didn’t enjoy being in the circus anymore. She needed to be around other elephants and live her life as an elephant, not a pet. The movie follows David and Flora for nine years while David tried to find a new home for Flora, a home where she could be happy and around other elephants. I haven’t seen the movie but the reviews have been really good. If you are interested the trailer can be watched here. The film should be slowly making its way to smaller theatres around the United States and they are also working on a DVD.
The website for the film is oneluckyelephant.com. You can also friend One Lucky Elephant on Facebook or follow on Twitter.