On February 13th, TECA sponsored a screening of Ashley Bell’s deeply affecting documentary Love & Bananas. The film focuses on the struggle to rescue endangered Asian elephants and the people who work tirelessly to save them. After waiting over two years, actor/director Ashley Bell and a team of elephant rescuers led by world-renowned Asian elephant conservationist and TIME Magazine’s Hero of Asia, Lek Chailert, embark on a daring mission 480 miles across Thailand to rescue Noi Na, a 70-year old partially blind trekking elephant and bring her to freedom.
The film was shown simultaneously on Boston’s medical campus, Grafton’s veterinary campus, and on Medford’s A&S campus. After the film’s end, director and actress, Ashley Bell, held a Q&A session via video links with the audiences in all three locations.
About the film: Elephant rescues in Thailand are rare, unpredictable and often life threatening. After waiting 2.5 years, actor/director Ashley Bell and a team of elephant rescuers led by world renowned Asian elephant conservationist and TIME Magazine’s Hero of Asia, Lek Chailert, embark on a daring mission 480 miles across Thailand to rescue Noi Na, a 70-year old partially blind trekking elephant and bring her to freedom.ore about Ashley: An actress across film, television and theater genres, Ashley Bell is most recognizable for her critically acclaimed role in “The Last Exorcism,” for which she earned an Independent Spirit Award and MTV Movie Award nomination. Bell serves as a US Ambassador for Cruelty Free International. Born and was raised in Los Angeles, she studied acting and directing at Cambridge University. She graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with honors.
