A people's struggle to save the animal at the heart of their culture.

For centuries the Bunong indigenous people on the Cambodian-Vietnamese border lived with elephants, believing they shared the same destiny. Today, as the forests and rivers both man and animal depend on are threatened, their fates seem even more inseparable. Last of the Elephant Men follows over a period of time several members of the tribe as they attempt to save the animal that once defined their way of life and may hold the key to their own survival.

Filmed over several years in stunning and remote locations across Cambodia, Last of the Elephant Men is an elegy for the domestic elephant in Asia and a plea to protect the remaining wild population. The story follows three Bunong from different generations - each showcasing fascinating and moving aspects of the bond between people and elephants: the legendary elephant catcher Mrey, who, haunted by nightmares and a lingering illness, must appease the elephant spirits before his final voyage; Mane, a human rights lawyer searching to understand what happened to her own family's elephant, while she fights to help her people keep their ancestral lands; and Duol, a teenager learning to become a mahout - an elephant rider - in order to support his parents and keep his traditional culture alive. From remote jungles to the iconic temples of Angkor and the bustling streets of Phnom Penh, the film reveals an intimate portrait of Cambodia's disintegrating heritage, remarkable human-animal interaction, and an indigenous people trying to find solutions to universal problems. Ultimately the themes of these stories apply to many traditional cultures - a microcosm for the link between biological and cultural diversity and the pressures they both face worldwide.

For centuries, the Bunong indigenous people of Eastern Cambodia lived with elephants, depending on them for every aspect of life. Now with the forest around them threatened by logging and mining companies, both the Bunong and the elephant face a desperate struggle to survive. Last of the Elephant Men follows three members of the tribe as they attempt to prevent the disappearance of the animal at the heart of their culture.