The Awakening of the Vietnamese Elephant - Short Documentary - Viet Nam

'The Awakening of the Asian Elephant' is a short observational documentary about an elephant who falls sick and the local mahouts (elephant caretakers) who fight to save her life.
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The story takes place inside the Yok Don National Park where Animals Asia homes a few retired elephants who used to work carrying tourists in the Dak Lak province, Vietnam. Together with H'Plo, AAF hired her mahout, Nhat, to work for the park close to his elephant. This is a story of resilience, camaraderie and trust between two different species who have always lived alongside each other.

Director Teresa Carante

​My passion for science and conservation began when I studied my Masters in Social Anthropology in 2010.

In 2015 I consumed myself in becoming a filmmaker and received my Advance Diploma in Screen and Media from Sydney Film School, specializing in Documentary filmmaking.

Passionate about moving images, I started freelancing as a videographer while working on my own personal projects. 'Through Their Eyes' was my first solo project, a six mini documentaries series about human-animal connection stories released in 2019, available on DocPlay streaming platform.

I then received development fundings from ABC Australia for “Mother Crocodile”, a 40min documentary about an eccentric lady who shares her house with 3 pet crocodiles in Melbourne (about to be released).

In 2020 I moved to Ho Chi Minh where I freelanced as a videographer for RICE, a local production company while also creating content for Fight Dog Meat and Animals Asia animal protection organizations. 'The Mahout' is a short documentary I filmed for Animals Asia about their elephant rescue program in Vietnam which is now available on Waterbear online streaming platform.
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Currently I am in the US working full time as a videographer and editor for SideXSide Studios.

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