"When Elephants Were Young" is a brilliant, insightful, and sensitive new film from the Canadian film-making duo Patricia Sims and Michael Clark, whose previous documentary "Return to the Forest" (http://worldelephantday.org/about/return-to-the-forest), chronicled the successful and ongoing mission of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand in returning captive elephants to the wild. This new film, "When Elephants Were Young," details the life of Bangkok elephant Nong Mai and Nong Mai's young male mahout (caretaker and trainer), Wok. Nong Mai and Wok attempt to forge a living by illegally begging on the streets of Bangkok, facing indifference if not outright hostility at every turn. This is a demeaning development from a culture that once elevated the sacred elephant/human relationship that has existed since time immemorial. Narrated by William Shatner, the film is chock full of fascinating information about this age-old symbiotic dynamic. It articulates the integral role the intelligent and highly sentient Asian elephant has played in the successful development of the Thai economy and how intertwined the symbolism of the elephant is with the Buddhist culture that prevails in Thailand today. Nong Mai is like family to Wok, and we watch with heavy heart as together they try to retain some shred of dignity in the face of extreme hardship in their collective struggle to survive on the street. The film details how and why the fate of the Asian elephant has become so perilous, including how the tourism industry in Thailand has largely contributed to the elephants' deprivation and abuse. It discusses the decline in numbers of the Asian elephant population in Thailand (where there used to be 100,000 to 200,000 about 100 years ago there are now only roughly 4,000) and pinpoints the causative factor: a shrinkage of their range due to manifold forms of human encroachment. The story of Nong Mai and Wok has a happy through bittersweet conclusion while the film itself is a heart-rending clarion call to everyone concerned with the future of the planet and its wildlife, to stand up and take action to help these precious imperiled Asian elephants, of which only approximately 45,000 remain alive today.

Obviously years in the making, this film covers a necessary and optimistic phenomenon of returning the wild to the wild. With a humanistic approach as to the impact on both the wild elephant and it's human keeper. Just a beautiful film. We get to follow the kind of life this captive elephant has been forced to live and the challenges of the human who cares for the elephant. Their partnership for the human's business, adds depth to the human side. The elephant's seeming willingness to cooperate for the enterprise, and the eventual release of the elephant back to the wild. The optimistic results of releasing the elephants back to the forest is uplifting.

When Elephants Were Young is an absolutely stunning film that captures the complex relationship between elephants and humans in Thailand. It takes you through an emotional journey of how we're connected to these magnificent creatures through the true story of Wok and his elephant Nong Mai as they walk the streets of Bangkok street begging. As we follow their story, the issues facing the survival of Asian elephants as a whole are addressed revealing the serious need for conservation. If you want to learn more about the plight of elephants in Thailand through the power of a true story, I can not recommend this movie enough. Anyone that watches it will feel a burning need to help the elephant conservation movement in any way possible.

This documentary, about the endangered Asian elephant in Thailand, profiles the reality facing a young elephant, Nong Mai, who her owner, Wok, has pressed into illegal begging on the streets of Bangkok. Insight into the threats to the Asian elephant population unfolds alongside the tragedy of seeing the day-to-day grind and pain of Nong Mai's captivity. Loss of habitat (95 percent of Thailand's forests have been harvested and replaced with urban centres or rice fields), poaching for ivory, elephant tourist shows and illegal street begging have so seriously undermined wild elephant populations that they are considered a threatened species. The film also points out the decisions and actions taken by the Thailand government, and conservation organizations, to protect and regenerate the Asian elephant population - which is also a powerful means to regenerate lost forest. When Elephants are Young is powerfully informative and is sure to prompt anyone who watches the film to take part in helping to conserve the wild Asian elephant population in the variety of ways offered.