In the late 1990s, prolific Italian director Joe D'Amato (Aristide Massaccesi) directed a pair of exotic erotic films often grouped together by distributors, though they share little in common regarding story or setting. Queen of Elephants (La regina degli elefanti, 1997)
Plot: The story follows two wealthy businessmen who travel to Morocco to purchase a leather company and encounter various erotic experiences during their trip. Filming Location: Production took place in Tunisia. "Queen of Elephants" (1997) vs. "Sahara" (1998)
The footage that Damato captured, which has never been publicly released in full, is described by those who claim to have seen raw dailies as "the saddest three minutes in natural history." The camera shows Sahara 19 approaching the skeleton of a much smaller elephant—likely her last calf. She wraps her trunk around the skull, lifts it gently, and carries it for over a mile before setting it down by a dry acacia tree.
The "Queen of Elephants" motif fits perfectly into his 1994-1996 period. During these years, D'Amato was obsessed with recreating the "Old Hollywood" adventure aesthetic but with contemporary adult sensibilities. These films typically featured a protagonist lost in a dangerous landscape—be it the Sahara or a deep jungle—encountering a mystical or powerful female ruler. Why the Interest Persists
They wander through sets half-swallowed by sand. A caravan of plaster palm trees leans like tired dancers. The air tastes of celluloid and dust, and every footstep writes a negative that will never be developed. In the distance, the Sahara hums with the low, persistent sound of an old motor—maybe a projector still spinning somewhere beneath the dunes, projecting nothing but its own shadow. Night arrives with a slow clapperboard snap. Stars project onto peeling backdrops; constellations form familiar faces—directors, extras, lovers—each a cameo in the sky’s second-unit footage.