UNLOCKING THE CAGE

Animal rights lawyer Steven Wise embarks on an unprecedented challenge to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans. Filing an all-new lawsuit for four captive chimpanzees, Wise seeks to transform an animal from a thing with no rights to a person with legal protections.

At a time when personhood is granted to corporations but not animals, documentary legends Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker chart an activist’s tireless fight for the rights of caged chimpanzees. Dissected on scientific and legal grounds, this question of autonomy is probed with intellectual gusto.