A list of films featuring free-living chimpanzees and chimpanzees used in research. In an attempt to foster comprehensive discussion, some of these books contain opposing points of view and do not imply endorsement by Project R&R.
20/20: “Great Ape Project”
Chimpanzee advocate Dr. Roger Fouts visits his old friend Booee, a chimpanzee formerly used for sign language experiments, at the biomedical research Laboratory for Experimental Surgery and Medicine in Primates.
Breaking Barriers
Story of the undercover rescue of four baby chimpanzees from the SEMA laboratory (now Bioqual). 13 minutes
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
501 Front Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
http://www.petacatalog.org/prodinfo.asp?number=VP501&variation=&aitem=32&mitem=42
Chimpanzees Today
Physical anthropologist Anne Zeller explores the many ways chimpanzees are used by humans. Of special interest is footage taken by Dr. Zeller during a visit to the Laboratory for Experimental Surgery and Medicine in Primates. 36 minutes
Documentary Educational Resources
101 Morse Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Phone: 617-926-0491
Chimps Incorporated
Outreach video of an Oregon sanctuary, Chimps Incorporated.
P.O. Box 6973
Bend, OR 97708
Phone: 541-330-8159
Chimps: So Like Us
Dr. Jane Goodall guides viewers among free-living chimpanzees and their rich cultural lives. The story sharply contrasts that with revelations of poorly maintained research facilities. 29 minutes
Direct Cinema Ltd
P.O. Box 10003
Santa Monica, CA 90410
Phone: 310-396-4774
Jane Goodall: Among the Wild Chimpanzees
A look at 20 years of Dr. Jane Goodall’s work, including her discovery of chimpanzees making and using tools. 59 minutes
Jane Goodall: My Life with The Chimpanzees
Dr. Jane Goodall’s personal story of the triumphs and trials of living a life in the wild. 60 minutes
Jane Goodall’s Wild Chimpanzees
A portrayal of chimpanzee life in the wild from Dr. Jane Goodall’s beginning of her work in Gombe National Park. The story centers on Fifi, who was two-years-old when Goodall’s study began and moves through the time when Fifi becomes the matriarch. 60 minutes
WNET Video Distribution
P.O. Box 2284
South Burlington, VT 05407
Phone: 1-800-336-1917
Keeli & Ivy: Chimps Like Us
Professor of Psychology Dr. Sally Boysen at Ohio State’s Chimpanzee Center teaches chimpanzees to recognize sequential patterns of letters and read short words. A Discovery Channel crew followed the research over four years. 52 minutes
This video is unavailable for purchase. Available for loan from NEAVS/Project R&R.
Monkey in the Mirror
A comparison of nonhuman primates and human beings. The film concludes that the world of primates is an “astonishing reflection of our own behavior.” 60 minutes
WNET Video Distribution
P.O. Box 2284
South Burlington, VT 05407
Phone: 1-800-336-1917
One Small Step: The Story of the Space Chimps
A documentary tracing the use of chimpanzees for Air and Space research, and the eventual retirement of some into the largest and one of the finest chimpanzee sanctuaries in the world, Save the Chimps, founded by Dr. Carole Noon. 57 minutes
Video is currently unavailable - coming out this winter/spring. Available for loan from NEAVS.
People of the Forest
Dr. Jane Goodall’s research is transformed by wildlife photographer Hugo van Lawick into a “rich tapestry of emotion and drama among chimpanzees in the wild.” The film compiles 20 years of footage following a group of chimpanzees in a Gombe forest. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, 90 minutes
Discovery Program Enterprises
Bethesda, MD 20814
Sanctuary: A New Life For Research Chimpanzees
An introduction to the Fauna Foundation in Canada and its chimpanzee residents, the first HIV-positive chimpanzees to be retired into sanctuary. Fauna chimpanzees are from the U.S. Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates. 46 minutes
This is not available for purchase. For information on viewing, contact the Fauna Foundation. http://www.faunafoundation.org/
The Origin of AIDS: Mystery of the Chimps
Explores the theory that the HIV1 virus originated with an endangered subspecies of chimpanzee in sub-Saharan Africa. Various experts, including Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Anthony Fauci discuss this theory as well as the nature of infectious disease. 22 minutes
Box 2053
Princeton, NJ 08543-2053
Last updated: 11/23/05