Unlocking the Cage

Description

Attorney Steven Wise holds a unique distinction among lawyers—he is the only one who can say all of his clients are innocent. This is because Wise’s clients are animals and he and his team of advocates are fighting to establish basic rights for specific living creatures. That struggle and the question of whether animals should be granted ‘personhood,’ as corporations have been, are among the fascinating issues directors D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus (The War Room) address in their thought-provoking documentary. Wise’s practice arose out of his interest in studies demonstrating that certain animals—apes, chimps, elephants and cetaceans such as dolphins, porpoises and whales—possess autonomy and capabilities far beyond what was previously perceived and that their intelligence rivals that of human beings. Unlocking the Cage follows Wise and his Non-Human Rights Project legal team as they attempt to raise the legal status of chimps held in captivity in various facilities. The obstacles the lawyers encounter build tremendous suspense in a film that reflects an expanding global view of basic rights for living beings and offers compelling evidence that the boundary between animals and humans is much narrower than anyone thought. —Tim Sika

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