The Elephant Queen Trust

The Elephant Queen Trust was born from a dream: to bring the wonder and stories of Kenya's wildlife to the children and communities who live alongside it — many of whom had never seen a cinema screen, let alone a film about the wild spaces they call home. While filming The Elephant Queen, we imagined a future where local schools and villages could see their own landscapes and challenges reflected on screen. In 2018, we began developing the creative tools to make that vision a reality — combining storytelling, education, and immersive performance into one powerful outreach program.

In 2021, we launched The Elephant Queen Outreach Program — a mobile, solar-powered journey of film, dance, puppetry, theatre, and literacy that brought The Elephant Queen and its theatre companion, The Trial of Athena, directly to schools and communities across Kenya. Children didn't just watch the story of Athena — they stepped into it, performing, debating, and imagining new ways of living with nature.

At the heart of the program are three creative pillars:

• Film — award-winning natural history films brought to life through mobile cinema.
• Theatre — interactive performances that spark empathy, reflection, and dialogue.
• Literacy — nature-themed Learn to Read storybooks co-developed with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and Jolly Phonics, supporting classroom learning and early literacy.

These experiences form a circuit of joy, learning, and local relevance — rooted in language, place, and imagination. Our outreach teams are made up of passionate young Kenyan performers, educators, and facilitators trained to spark dialogue and wonder, and to bring biodiversity to life in ways that feel meaningful and immediate.

Between 2021 and 2023, Phase I of the program reached over 130,000 people in more than 240 locations across Kenya. Screenings and theatre performances were delivered in classrooms, village fields, and community halls — in collaboration with over 50 conservation and civic organisations. This work empowered local actors, built trust with communities, and created a shared language around biodiversity and coexistence.

Alongside this reach, a pioneering academic impact study was conducted to assess the influence of storytelling on human-wildlife tolerance. The study, published in People and Nature, showed that nature documentaries can significantly improve empathy and positive attitudes toward elephants — even among communities facing high levels of conflict. This research has laid a strong foundation for our long-term model.

In October 2025, building on the success and impact of Phase I — and responding to the ongoing demand from partners and communities — we launched Phase II of the program and formally established The Elephant Queen Trust.

Phase II introduces a new suite of creative resources:

• The Elephant & the Termite — our Emmy-winning sister film, celebrating overlooked species and savannah ecosystems.
• Pori Radio — a bold new theatre production exploring voice, connection, and community.
• The Elephant Queen Learn to Read Series — deepening our focus on early literacy, helping the youngest learners discover language through stories of the wild.
• Advanced Biodiversity Engagement — new content for older students around co-evolution, resilience, and the future of ecosystems.

As we return to the communities of Phase I and reach new ones, our emphasis is on long-term connection, storytelling continuity, and amplifying local voices.

A new impact assessment, designed with the same academic teams and scientific advisors as Phase I, will measure how film and theatre together can foster deeper, longer-lasting shifts in behaviour and perception — including pioneering AI-based emotion recognition in collaboration with Affectiva.