WALKING THUNDER: ODE TO THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT Documentary to Premiere During World Elephant Week

The award-qualifying run begins August 15 at the Laemmle Royal in West LA.

By: A.A. Cristi Jul. 23, 2025

  

WALKING THUNDER: ODE TO THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT, a powerful new wildlife documentary by acclaimed photographers and conservationists Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson, will premiere on Friday, August 15 at 7:30 PM at the Laemmle Royal in West Los Angeles.

The screening will include a panel discussion and Q&A moderated by activist and curator Kat Kramer, with participation from Christo, Wilkinson, their son Lysander Christo, and other special guests.

Timed to World Elephant Week, the film will continue its award-qualifying run with three daily screenings from August 15 through Thursday, August 21 at the Laemmle Royal.

Filmed over the course of ten years, WALKING THUNDER follows the Christo family as they journey across East Africa, capturing the profound role of elephants in the natural world while confronting the escalating threats of poaching, climate change, and human expansion. The documentary offers a deeply personal and urgent perspective, told through the lens of a child growing up amidst the crisis of a vanishing species.

Produced and directed by Christo and Wilkinson, the film features a score by Wendy Blackstone, whose compositions have accompanied two Academy Award-winning documentaries. The film is dedicated to legendary elephant conservationist Dame Daphne Sheldrick and has earned standing ovations at festivals including the Taos Environmental Film Festival and World Wildlife Day Film Showcase. Jane Goodall has praised WALKING THUNDER as “an outstanding achievement.”

WALKING THUNDER is the fourth Wildlife documentary Kramer has presented, and the third focusing on elephant conservation and animal welfare. They were “The Cove” -2nd installment in 2010, “Elephants and Man: A Litany of Tragedy, 3rd installment in 2011, and “Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story” as the 10th installment in 2018. Kramer also presented the documentary FAR OUT: LIFE ON AND AFTER THE COMMUNE, a film by Charles Light, in April 2025 at Laemmle Theaters as the launch for her 13th installment.

Tickets for the LA premiere and weeklong run are available now via the Laemmle Theatres website.