The Last Mahout: A Cinematic Short Film By Tania Esteban

This film was shot with Panasonic GH5 (4K/HDR)

‘The Last Mahout’ is a cinematic short film produced and shot by Panasonic ambassador and wildlife filmmaker Tania Esteban about Vee & Mae – two that share an unbreakable bond built on love and trust. Vee, an 80-year-old Mahout, has been with Mae Mahn since she was born over 27 years ago – and ONLY uses his VOICE to guide her. A non-riding, no chains, non-stick wielding way forward into the 21st century. Mahn is a matriarch Asian elephant in her prime, and so the MandaLao and WWF Laos team are looking at the incredible Nam Phouy national park as a potential release site to allow individuals like her to breed in the wild as well as rescue elephants. Mae is one of the lucky ones… join them for a day in the life of a modern Mahout.

Tania: “I cannot thank the amazing people who helped me out on location at the Mandalo Conservation Sanctuary enough, they do such remarkable and revolutionary work to help mistreated and dwindling populations of wild elephants – a first of their kind in the country. I especially want to thank Michael Vogler (founder of Mandalao), Prasop Tipprasert (director of MandaLao), Khamkhoun Khounboline (from WWF Laos), Gregorio Rojas & Keum Houngduangchanh (guide/translator), and of course the superstars themselves – the effervescent Vee and Mae Mahn. And a huge thanks to Richard Collins who made the characters and essence of the forest come to life with his magical music and original score, as well as Panasonic for giving me the opportunity to create the film.

We are sharing this video from Tania Esteban Youtube Channel. Please follow her channel for more amazing videos.

Credits: Tania Rose Esteban – Producer/Director/Camera/Editor Panasonic – Sponsors Richard Collins – Original Score Michael Vogler – Founder of MandaLao Chanthip Santi – Fixer Gregorio Rojas, Keum Houngduangchanh (guide/translators/Field Guide) Blackmagic Design (Davinci Resolve) – Colour Grading software