PÖFF: Elephants in the Fog

PÖFF30 | Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival | 6-22 november 2026 | Cinema Artis

In a remote Nepalese village nestled deep in the forest, Pirati leads a house of Kinnar women, an ancient third-gender community both revered and feared for their believed power to bless or curse. As wild elephants roam the darkness, the villagers are forced to conduct nightly patrols to protect their crops and homes, with Pirati’s Kinnar family volunteering one member each night. Pirati dreams of escaping with the mustachioed Drum Master she loves, against the sacred vows of celibacy of her community. But when one of her daughters disappears during a nightly patrol, and she’s met with cold indifference by police, Pirati is left with no choice but to investigate the disappearance herself. As the mystery unravels, Pirati stirs up dangerous tensions that threaten to sever the ties she has forged with her family, forcing her to choose between love and her beloved community... Tradition clashes against modernity in Abinash Bikram Shah’s delicately rendered portrait of a spiritual community that defies Western notions around gender and sexuality. Set amid the wild and verdant forests surrounding a village being continually shaped by contemporary notions of prejudice, “Elephants in the Fog” is an intimate examination of chosen family, motherhood, and sacrifice in the name of liberation. Receiving a seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes, “Elephants in the Fog” is the first Nepali feature ever selected for the festival’s Un Certain Regard section, where it won the Jury Prize. It has also been selected as Nepal’s entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.