New Documentary Tackles History of Animal Exploitation

The film We Are Animals features celebrities, activists, and experts discussing the history of animal exploitation.

We Are Animals is a star-studded documentary that explores the history of animal exploitation. The film features celebrities, activists, and experts discussing how humans have treated animals as food, property, pets, tools, transportation, and in scientific experimentation. The documentary was directed by Nicholas Tana and Kirk Murray and executive produced by Nina Jackel, a journalist, activist, and founder of the nonprofit media organization Lady Freethinker. Jackel and Murray also collaborated on the documentary Cruelty For Clicks, which examined online animal cruelty videos. The film includes interviews with activists, authors, scientists, and politicians on the topic of animal exploitation, and it addresses the new breakthroughs in animal behavior. Historical footage and clips from movies and TV shows are also incorporated into the narrative to illustrate past and present treatment of animals. We Are Animals debuted at California's Marina Del Rey Film Festival in June, where it won the Audience Award. The film was later screened at La Femme Film Festival in October. These early screenings helped establish the film's reputation and brought attention to the ongoing debate about how we treat nonhuman beings. Speaking to the Hollywood Times earlier this year, Jackel said animals are unable to tell the world of their suffering, but we can. She explained that the documentary was born from a deep urgency to expose the systems that allow exploitation to run rampant and to speak out for a more compassionate world for our fellow species. The filmmakers aimed to highlight the interconnectedness between humans and animals while exposing historical patterns of abuse and the moral responsibilities we share. In September, HBO released a new documentary from Tiger King creator Eric Goode called Monsters of God. The film follows Goode as he explores the illegal reptile trade with his first love, reptiles, into the dark and gonzo world of exotic animal smuggling. Goode has stated that the monsters of the film's title are humans, not exotic reptiles, and that we are monsters who do it under the veil of saying we are godly creatures when we are really part of the animal kingdom. This comparison underscores the film's broader theme of human behavior toward other species and reinforces the documentary's central message.

Read source: Plant Based News