DiCaprio Ivory Trade Film Edges Ex-Kremlin Aide's Bid for Oscar Consideration

Prize-winning film

Yastrzhembsky's film highlights how the population of elephants in Africa has dropped to less than 500,000 from 1.5 million in the past 30 years, and that every 15 minutes on average, an elephant is killed by poachers for its ivory.

Wrenching scenes include one of an elephant being shot and then moaning as it is hacked to pieces by poachers.

If nothing is done, conservationists say the African elephant could be extinct in the wild within a generation.

Pope Francis backs film's cause

Yastrzhembsky said Pope Francis saw a shortened version of his film before publicly speaking out in Nairobi against ivory poaching in Kenya.

He said he showed a trailer to DiCaprio three years ago on the yacht of a mutual friend, the real-estate oligarch Vladimir Zemstov, in the French resort of Saint Tropez.

Yastrzhembsky said he invited DiCaprio to take part in his project financially or do the voiceover, but talks never bore fruit. 'I think DiCaprio wanted to do his own film,' he said.