“Imagine that you are a jellyfish,” says the voice of Oscar nominee Isabella Rossellini at the start of a trailer for Unanimal, a new documentary by directors Tuva Björk and Sally Jacobson, which The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively reveal. In the movie, Rossellini’s voice leads viewers through “a self-reflecting journey into the complex relationship between humans and other animals.”
The film will world premiere in the Next:Wave Competition lineup of CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival.
With humor and curiosity, the doc looks to “uncover animals’ astounding adaptations to our urban, modern lives” and invite the audience to think about “our shared presence in a world dominated by man,” according to a synopsis. It moves “from the living conditions of inner city rats and pigeons to absurd spectacles by which we are surrounded under hypercapitalism: three goldfish being sold for the price of one, monkeys negotiating a deal on coca cola with the zookeepers and horses being transported across the globe on jumbo jets.”
One key question explored is what we can learn about ourselves “by looking at other animals.” Or: “What can we learn about ourselves by looking at the line that separates us from the rest of the living?” as narrator Rossellini puts it in the film
“To stimulate an active, reflective reading, we have worked together with famous Swedish writer Zara Kjellner and, with input from narrator Isabella Rossellini, added a series of philosophical, historical anecdotes between the chapters,” the filmmakers said. “Since Isabella boarded the project, she has been an important co-creator of the script with a unique ability to make complex topics available for a broader audience and her humor and playfulness have influenced the writing.”
‘Unanimal’
Courtesy of Story AB
Jacobson was born in Stockholm, Sweden, while Björk was raised in Helsinki, Finland. “We are interested in the relationship between physical reality and visual culture,” the directors explain in their directors’ statement about the film. “How can images challenge the dominant chrono-normative human-animal relationship?”
They also highlight: “Rather than presenting moral statements on relations between human and other animals, we want to allow the viewer to meditate on the subject on their own premises. It is impossible to see from the perspective of the nonhuman, but we can position the camera inside the cages at the zoo, behind the display glass in the pet shop, and in front of the crowd at the racecourse in order to study the human observing the nonhuman.”
They say the time is ripe. “With the climate crisis, we are now witnessing a tipping point, where the separation we have made for ourselves has become a limitation, alienating us from the ecosystem we are inseparable from and depended on,” Björk and Jacobson highlight. Instead of separating, it’s time to explore and celebrate the connections between us and other animals, the possibilities for adaptation, learning, and living together.”
Written by the directors and Zara Kjellner, Unanimal was produced by Sweden’s Story AB in co-production with Cinephage. Tobias Janson and Melissa Lindgren served as producers for Story AB, in co-production with Victor Ede of France’s Cinephage and LCTV , and in partnership with Image Fantôme Films. Sales are handled by Open Kitchen Films.
Watch the trailer for Unanimal below.