April 13, 2021Animal Law & Policy ProgramExclusive Q&A with the director of GUNDA
Animal Law & Policy Program Executive Director Chris Green in conversation with Victor Kossakovsky director of GUNDA, which opens in theaters this Friday (April 16).
Recently, the Animal Law & Policy Program was honored to offer an exclusive online screening of the film GUNDA to leaders in the animal protection movement, after which our Executive Director Chris Green moderated a Q&A with the film’s director Victor Kossakovsky.
GUNDA chronicles the lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows, unfiltered, in black & white, with no humans, no dialogue, and no musical score – just the voices of the animals themselves and the sounds of the environments they inhabit.
The film provides a window to experience life as these animals do, taking in the world from their point of view. The result implores the audience to appreciate the reality of animal consciousness and emotion, while also confronting the way these sentient beings are treated by humanity – even in the most idyllic of settings.
GUNDA asks us to meditate on the mystery of animal consciousness, and reckon with the role humanity plays in it. Executive Produced by Joaquin Phoenix, GUNDA is opening in theaters starting April 16th.
As Ann Thompson from IndieWire says this is “Not like anything you’ve seen”. It is, in the words of The New York Times: A New Breed of Animal Documentary. Tickets are on sale now for select theaters.
You can watch the official trailer for GUNDA below and here is our Executive Director Chris Green’s Q&A with Victor Kossakovsky.
You can also read a blog by Animal Outlook and share this tweet from Mercy for Animals who were among those invited to our private screening of the film.
GUNDA - Official Trailer
Experiential cinema in its purest form, GUNDA chronicles the unfiltered lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with masterful intimacy. Using stark, transcendent black and white cinematography and the farm’s ambient soundtrack, director Victor Kossakowsky invites the audience to slow down and experience life as his subjects do, taking in their world with a magical patience and an other worldly perspective.
"Sublimely beautiful and profoundly moving"
Manohla Dargis, The New York Times