Queens

Award-winning cinematographers join forces with up-and-coming female filmmakers from across the globe to capture the lives of the animal queens. We celebrate the inspiring stories of the game-changing women we met during these epic adventures in the world’s wildest places. These scientists, conservationists and activists are giving everything to protect the animals and their iconic homes.

The coastal realm of land and sea is home to two of nature’s most iconic females: orcas and grizzly bears. Under the waves in the Gulf of California, the orca family’s success relies on the experience of their 60-year-old matriarch. While on the beaches of Alaska, a first-time bear mother must raise her three cubs alone and with only her instincts to guide her.

The Ethiopian mountain world is ruled by two very different queens, but both are mothers raising daughters. A gelada monkey rules a tight-knit sisterhood, but with her only daughter on the cusp of adulthood, she must make great sacrifices for her child’s future. On the plateau above, an Ethiopian wolf also has a daughter, but this mother must be ruthless to protect her own legacy.

The African savanna is home to the ultimate animal sisterhood: a family of elephants. A new baby will need the family’s support to make it through her early, vulnerable months. While mom learns how to care for her, the baby’s grandmother, the matriarch, must protect the infant. Facing predators, drought and a rapidly changing world, can this growing family of iconic females survive?

Under the rainforest canopy of Central America is a secret world ruled by insects. Two tiny queens will give everything to build their empires. The ant queen will sacrifice her own body for the future of her growing colony, while the beautiful orchid bee will stop at nothing for success, betraying those closest to her.

The Congo forest in Central Africa is home to a secretive animal we still know very little about. Bonobos are one of our closest relatives, but in their society, it’s females who rule. A young bonobo must leave behind her family to find her place in the world. Here, friendship is the key to survival. She must make new friends and impress the alpha female before she can truly fit in.

In the heart of Tanzania, the towering walls of the Ngorongoro crater set the stage for one of the most infamous rivalries in the natural world. The sisters of a formidable lion pride clash with a hyena clan ruled by an all-powerful queen. The sisterhood shares responsibility, while the hyena queen must play clan politics and enforce a strict hierarchy to keep her crown.