Zero Dark Thirty's Kathryn Bigelow has released her new short film, "Last Days," chronicling how the ivory trade funds terrorism.
Since Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow has not shied away from the uncomfortable topics of our times—especially if they’re being severely underserviced in the media.
There have been projections that elephants in the wild could be extinct as soon as in 11 years if the illegal ivory trade and poaching continues. This is a horror unto itself, however, it also feeds into another terror that can hopefully shock the apathetic into a stronger reaction. In the below three-minute film, “Last Days,” Bigelow uses animation, statistics, and gruesome footage from the tragic Westgate Mall massacre in Nairobi, Kenya to illustrate the universal dangers of the ivory trade.
“Last Days” is written by Scott Z and is part of a coordinated effort to raise attention for lastdaysofivory.com. Bigelow has gone on record saying that she made this short and partially animated film, because the costs of waiting too long for a feature film production are too high.
As the below film states in harrowing context, one elephant is killed every 15 minutes. That’s 96 a day, and over 33,000 a year.
It’s a film worth watching. And sharing.
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