Love & Bananas

African elephants are slaughtered for their ivory, but sadly the plight of the Asian Elephant has been completely overlooked even though they are the elephant we are most familiar with in zoos, circuses and elephant rides. L&B exposes the cruel secret that every Asian elephant has had to endure to become a service animal; a process knows as Pajan, aka The Crush Box. LOVE & BANANAS aims to ignite a new way of thinking about this species and shows what can be done to prevent the extinction of Asan elephants.

Schedule

Director: Ashley Bell

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Bell is the daughter of actor/voice animator Michael Bell and actress and Groundlings co-founder Victoria Carroll. She studied acting and directing at Cambridge University, where she was awarded “Best Actress” for her portrayal of “Ophelia.” Bell later graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with honors, and was mentored by Oscar nominee Kathleen Turner.
Bell directed, wrote and produced the feature documentary entitled “Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story,” which depicts the rescue of a blind Asian elephant from captivity in Thailand and her journey 500 miles to freedom. It will be released nationwide in theaters this April 2019 by Abramorama, with a broadcast release on Starz to follow later in the year. To accompany the project, she is releasing an e-book entitled “Shoot it, Sell it, Show it: How I made an independent film with Grit and Google.” Additionally, Bell serves as a US Ambassador for Cruelty Free International.

United States Thailand
2018
93 Min.
English
SUB: English SUB: Thai
12
Director: Ashley Bell
Script: Ashley Bell, John McCarthy, Fernanda Rossi
Cinematography: John McCarthy, Roddy Tabatabai
Editing: John McCarthy
Music: Ian and Sophia Hildquist
Narrator: Ashley Bell
Producer: Ashley Bell, John McCarthy, Ross Dinerstein
Awards: Best Newcomer 2019
Nominations: Best Newcomer 2019
Website URL: www.loveandbananas.com