Exclusive: Fight For Chimpanzees With The New Trailer For HBO's 'Unlocking The Cage'

Humankind hasn’t always had a great record when it comes to protecting our friends in the animal kingdom, but there have always been individuals and organizations fighting for those who don’t have a voice. And Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker‘s new documentary “Unlocking The Cage” tells the remarkable story of a team who take the battle to recognize the rights of chimpanzees to an unexpected level.

A film we called “inspiring” when it played in limited release last summer, “Unlocking The Cage” follows animal rights lawyer Steven Wise who goes to court to argue that chimpanzees should be recognized as persons with legal rights. Here’s the official synopsis:

Unlocking the Cage follows animal rights lawyer Steven Wise in his unprecedented challenge to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans. After thirty years of struggling with ineffective animal welfare laws, Steve and his legal team, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), are making history by filing the first lawsuits that seek to transform an animal from a thing with no rights to a person with legal protections.

Supported by affidavits from primatologists around the world, Steve maintains that, based on scientific evidence, cognitively complex animals such as chimpanzees, whales, dolphins, and elephants have the capacity for limited personhood rights (such as bodily liberty) that would protect them from physical abuse. Using writs of habeas corpus (historically used to free humans from unlawful imprisonment), Wise argues on behalf of four captive chimpanzees in New York State.

Unlocking the Cage captures a monumental shift in our culture, as the public and judicial system show increasing receptiveness to Steve’s impassioned arguments. It is an intimate look at a lawsuit that could forever transform our legal system, and one man’s lifelong quest to protect “nonhuman” animals.

“Unlocking The Cage” makes its debut on HBO on February 20th.