Buffalo 8 picks up Herzog's Ghost Elephants for home release
Buffalo 8 Distribution has acquired home entertainment rights to Ghost Elephants, the documentary written, directed and narrated by Werner Herzog. The deal was struck at the Toronto Film Festival market, where buyers and sellers trade rights to films, Variety reported on 22 September. Home entertainment means release outside cinemas, on disc and on digital platforms for home viewing.
Buffalo 8 will handle that rollout in partnership with Sobey Road Entertainment. The agreement was negotiated by Buffalo 8 chief executive Matthew Helderman and Sobey Road co-managing partner Terrence Battle, Variety reported. Nikki Stier Justice leads distribution at Buffalo 8.
The film follows conservation biologist Dr. Steve Boyes on a search lasting more than a decade. His target is an elusive elephant population living in Angola's mist-covered highlands. Herzog narrates the journey. That narration earned Herzog a 2026 Emmy nomination for outstanding narrator.
Ghost Elephants began its festival life at the Venice Film Festival in 2025. It then had its North American premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. It was later selected for AFI Fest and IDFA, the documentary festival in Amsterdam, Variety reported. At Venice it received a special mention from the FAI Persona Lavoro Ambiente Foundation. It then won the Programmers Award for Documentary Feature at the Virginia Film Festival.
The film was produced by Herzog and Ariel Leon Isacovitch. Its production companies are National Geographic Documentary Films, Sobey Road Entertainment, Skellig Rock, Inc. and The Roots Production Service.
For fans, this means a clear path to watch the expedition at home. Festival documentaries often take months to move from premieres to a home release. This deal fills in that next step, with Buffalo 8 and Sobey Road now in charge of bringing the Angola search to discs and screens.
