The Elephant & The Room

Essay Film

The Elephant & The Room is an essay film that explores themes of immigration, colonialism and Western double-standards. The story develops from the bizarre news about African elephants making their way —illegally— to Germany, which at first seems like an absurd news headline but gradually reveals a darker and more troubling reality.

Divided into four chapters, the story covers the complex colonial history between Western Europe and African elephants leading to the present-day relations. Through subtle twists and criticism in narration, the film explores the implications of the Western political systems regarding immigration and the violence of Western colonialism in the global south.

Amidst disastrous humanitarian crises in the global south and the rising of anti-immigration sentiment and nationalism in Western European political discourse, the need for genuine and productive dialogue is more urgent than ever. The Elephant & The Room is an invitation for critical reflection and discussion on the issues systematically marginalised in Western socio- political discourse, particularly surrounding immigration and colonialism. The legacy of colonial violence and injustice is shown to be rooted in every struggle coming from the global south. Therefore, It’s about time we admit that the elephant isn’t the reason behind our discomfort, but the room itself is all along.

Film Information:

• Film Title: The Elephant & The Room

• Duration: 14 min.

• Language: English.

• Genre: Essay Film.

• Director: Anas Qadamani

• Release Year: 2024

• Country of Origin: The Netherlands

• Release Year: 2024

• Subtitles: English.

• Film Age-Rating: (includes imagery of death, and violence against humans and other creatures).

July 4th-6th, 2024
WdKA - AV Grad. Show
Kino
Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Mentions:

• VERS Magazine | The Netherlands

• The University of Glasgow | Scotland - UNESCO CHAIR ON REFUGEE INTEGRATION THROUGH EDUCATION, LANGUAGE AND ARTS