Zoo (2007)

Director:

Robinson Devor

Writers:

Robinson Devor (writer)
Charles Mudede (writer)

Release Date:

30 May 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

We are not who we appear to be.

Plot:

A look at the life of a Seattle man who died as a result of an unusual encounter with a horse. |

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Cremation | Zoophilia | Liberal | Underworld

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Coyote	...	Himself
Jenny Edwards	...	Herself
John Edwards	...	Himself
John Paulsen	...	Mr. Hands
Ron Carrier	...	The Happy Horseman
Russell Hodgkinson	...	H
Tom Gormally	...	The Polishman
Forest Fousel	...	Capitol Hill man (as Forest L. Fousel)
Brad Harrington	...	Bremerton man
Andrew Scott McIntyre	...	Military man (as Andrew McIntyre)
Richard Carmen	...	Mr. Hands' brother
Ken Kreps	...	Mr. Hand's father
Malayka Gormally	...	Mr. Hands' wife
Conor Gormally	...	Mr. Hands' son
Robert Padilla	...	The rancher

Also Known As:

Zoo (Greece) (festival title) [el]
Zoofilia (Brazil) (festival title) [pt]

Runtime:

USA:80 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Trivia:

The horse performer in this movie was a Thoroughbred mare named 'Somebodys Baby', and is a former successful racehorse. The horse in the incident portrayed was in reality an Arabian stallion.

Shocking, but not in the way you would expect.

Where other films on this subject matter would be made to shock or weigh heavily on the inappropriateness of it, Zoo is quite the opposite. It is a somewhat poetic documentary following the tragic death of Mr. Hands, a man who died after having his colon perforated by a stallion. Instead of focusing on the pure shock values and controversy that bestiality brings, it instead focuses on the condition of zoophiles. It is an intimate study into human nature and what makes us who we are.

Zoo was in no way meant to shock or entice the audience's curiosity with graphic images. In fact, if you were to watch the film without the dialog, you could be fooled into believing that this was a beautifully photographed and musically scored feature film. Perhaps it is the imagery that softens the story of the zoophiles.

There is a definite play on light in this documentary. Light is used to great effect in what we see in lightness or darkness. The use of light in cinematography, however, is in direct contrast to the story being told. Where one would think that the topic of bestiality is one of black and white, Zoo blurs the line. Is it really so hard to accept love for what it is and accept that humans could love animals as they love humans? Perhaps this is the most shocking part of Zoo. Rob Devor has made a film that makes the audience sympathize with the zoophiles. For a topic that should shock us on a graphic level, it turns the tables and shocks us in an altogether different way.