We Are Animals: Documentary Tackles Animal Exploitation

The documentary 'We Are Animals' features prominent animal advocates including Moby and Soul Eubanks, exploring the ethical treatment of animals and challenging humanity's prejudices against them.

A new documentary film titled We Are Animals tackles the history of animal exploitation and challenges humanity's oldest prejudices against other species. The production features a star-studded cast of activists, celebrities, scientists, authors, and politicians who speak out about the treatment of animals. Film Details and Cast The feature-length documentary is produced by the animal protection organisation Lady Freethinker. Plant Based News notes that journalist, activist, and Lady Freethinker founder Nina Jackel executive produced the film. Vegan Food & Living states that Nina Jackel founded Lady Freethinker in 2013 to launch petitions and investigations against exploitative industries like fur farming, animal tourism, and the dog meat trade. Nicholas Tana and Kirk Murray directed We Are Animals. Murray and Jackel previously collaborated on Cruelty For Clicks, which focused on online animal cruelty videos, according to Plant Based News. Vegan Food & Living reports that the film features interviews with Moby, Soul Eubanks, Peter Egan, Mya, Kristin Bauer, Nikki Glaser, Peter Singer, Alison Pill, and grassroots advocates from Animal Equality and the LA Vegan Food Bank. Plant Based News states that the film examines the historical treatment of animals as food, property, pets, tools, transportation, and use in scientific experimentation, while also looking at historical footage and clips from movies and TV shows. Vegan Food & Living reports that the film combines scientific evidence and personal anecdotes to show complex consciousness in animals, highlighting examples such as wild orangutans fashioning umbrellas out of leaves and cows maintaining close best friends. Festival Tour and Quotes Vegan Food & Living reports that We Are Animals debuted at the Marina Del Rey Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary, went on to win Best Documentary Feature at the Studio City Film Festival, collected four festival accolades total, and concluded its tour at the LA Femme International Film Festival. Plant Based News specifies that the film debuted at California's Marina Del Rey Film Festival in June and was screened at La Femme Film Festival in October. Nina Jackel explained to VegNews that animals are often dismissed as the other while their suffering is ignored, and she wanted to demonstrate from a scientific perspective how other species experience life similarly to humans. Jackel told the Hollywood Times that animals cannot tell the world of their suffering so humans must do so, and that the documentary was born from a deep urgency to expose systems of exploitation. Jackel also told the Hollywood Times that she hopes people leave the theatre inspired and empowered. Director Kirk Murray told the Hollywood Times that the documentary became one of the most important projects he had ever undertaken and that if it encourages people to think differently, ask difficult questions, or act with greater compassion, it has achieved its goal. Related Projects Plant Based News notes that in September, HBO released a new documentary titled Monsters of God from Tiger King creator Eric Goode. The film follows Goode into the dark and gonzo world of exotic animal smuggling and the illegal reptile trade. Goode told USA Today that the monsters in the title are humans, stating that humans are the monsters who act under the veil of being godly creatures when they are really part of the animal kingdom.

Read source: Vegan Food & Living