During his acceptance speech for Best Actor at the 2020 Oscars, Joaquin Phoenix used his platform to make a national plea for animal rights. With the documentary “Gunda,” Phoenix puts his money where his mouth is. The documentary is an experimental black and white film about the life of farm animals that blew away audiences at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. “Gunda” challenges its viewers, by having them study animal consciousness and harmful the role that humans play in it.
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The film specifically covers the life of a pig and his companions on the farm — some cows and a one-legged chicken. “Gunda” comes from director and co-writer Viktor Kosakovskiy. “Gunda” is the latest in a trilogy of nature films by Kosakovskiy. His previous film in this series was “Aquarela,” which documents water and ice in all forms around the world.
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The documentary was also written by Ainara Vera (“See you tomorrow God willing“). “Gunda” was produced by Joslyn Barnes (“Strong Island“) and Susan Rockefeller (“Capernaum“). The film was executive produced by Tone Grottjord-Glenne (“All That I Am“).
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“Gunda” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year and fans and advocates of the film were Paul Thomas Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix, the latter an ardent animal rights supporter who lent his name to the film in an executive-producer role. Anderson, a champion of the film, said at the time, “‘Gunda’ is pure cinema. This is a film to take a bath in — it’s stripped to its essential elements, without any interference.” Here’s the official summary for “Gunda.”
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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, master director Victor Kossakovsky invites the audience to slow down and experience life as his subjects do, taking in their world with a magical patience and an otherworldly perspective. ‘Gunda’ asks us to meditate on the mystery of animal consciousness, and reckon with the role humanity plays in it.”
Starting on December 11, the documentary will have a week-long virtual run in New York and Los Angeles. “Gunda” will then be released in theaters sometime in 2021. Take a look at the trailer below.
