Zoo (2007 film)

Zoo is a 2007 American documentary film based on the life and death of Kenneth Pinyan, an American man who died of peritonitis due to perforation of the colon after engaging in receptive anal sex with a horse. The film's public debut was at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007, where it was one of 16 winners out of 857 candidates. Following Sundance, it was selected as one of the top five American films to be presented at the Directors' Fortnight sidebar at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

Zoo
Zoo movie poster
Directed byRobinson Devor
Produced byPeggy Case
Alexis Ferris
Written byCharles Mudede
Robinson Devor
StarringRichard Carmen
Paul Eenhoorn
Russell Hodgkinson
John Paulsen
Music byPaul Matthew Moore
CinematographySean Kirby
Edited byJoe Shapiro
Distributed byTHINKFilm
Release date
Running time
80 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Title

The film was originally titled In the Forest There Is Every Kind of Bird,[1] but is released under the title Zoo, short for zoophile, signifying a person with a sexual interest in animals.

Awards and recognition

Zoo was one of 16 documentaries selected, out of 856 submitted, for screening at the Sundance Film Festival,[2] and played at numerous U.S. regional festivals thereafter.[3]

It was selected as one of the top five American films to be presented at the Directors' Fortnight sidebar at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.[4][5]

Reception
They called us and were excited about the imagery, the poetry, the experimentation with the documentary form ... then, strangely, suddenly, in 2005, it becomes the talk of society. ... How do we go from something being utterly hidden from view, and then suddenly we're consumed with it and so upset by it we need to pass a law?[2]

—Charles Mudede

Sundance judges called the film a "humanizing look at the life and bizarre death of a seemingly normal Seattle family man who met his untimely end after an unusual encounter with a horse".[6]

The Seattle Times called it "A tough sell that gets respect at Sundance",[7] also noting the local economic effect of landmark films which put a location "on the map". OC Weekly film says, "Zoo achieves the seemingly impossible: It tells the luridly reported tale of a Pacific Northwest Boeing engineer's[8] fatal sexual encounter with a horse in a way that's haunting rather than shocking and tender beyond reason."[9] Similar views were expressed by the Los Angeles Times ("remarkably, an elegant, eerily lyrical film has resulted")[10] and the Toronto Star, "gorgeously artful ... one of the most beautifully restrained, formally distinctive and mysterious films of the entire festival".[11]

Other reviewers criticized the film for breaching "the last taboo", or for sinking to new depths: "More compelling than the depths of man's degeneracy is our cultural rationalization of 'art,' whereby pushing the envelope is confused with genius and scuttling the last taboo is seen as an expression of sophistication."[12]

Rotten Tomatoes has the movie at 60%, writing "While a marginally fascinating look at a taboo subject, Zoo is bogged down by its overly artistic presentation."

Legacy

Charles Mudede reported in 2015 that the zoophiles featured in the film had remained in contact with the director; according to Mudede they believe that Devor was "a real ally" to their cause.[13]

References
  1. Macdonald, Moira (July 3, 2006). "Infamous Enumclaw horse sex case to be made into movie". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on July 5, 2006. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  2. Westneat, Danny (December 3, 2006). "New movie is the spawn of horse sex". The Seattle Times.
  3. Dentler, Matt (May 4, 2007). "Cannes Countdown: Directors' Fortnight Lineup Impresses". Matt Dentler's Blog. Archived from the original on February 9, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  4. Levy, Emanuel. "Zoo: Inside the Controversial Documentary about Bestiality". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Hernandez, Eugene (May 3, 2007). "Slate Set for 49th Directors' Fortnight; Corbijn's "Control" Opening Section". indieWIRE.
  6. Westneat, Danny (December 3, 2006). "New movie is the spawn of horse sex". Seattle Times.
  7. Vicchrilli, Sam (January 26, 2007). ""Zoo" a tough sell that gets respect at Sundance". The Seattle Times.
  8. Kaufman, Anthony (January 23, 2007). "Year of the Horse: The Stunning World of "Zoo"". Indiewire.
  9. Nelson, Rob (January 25, 2007). "Sympathy for the Devil". OC Weekly.
  10. Turan, Kenneth (January 22, 2007). "'Zoo' is not just 'eeew'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  11. Pevere, Geoff (January 26, 2007). "In praise of real movies". Toronto Star.
  12. Parker, Kathleen (January 26, 2007). "Sundance films wallow in perversity, try to pass it off as 'art'". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  13. Sokol, Zach. "The Strange, Sad Story of the Man Named Mr. Hands Who Died from Having Sex with a Horse". vice. vice.com. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
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