Checkpoint Zoo

What is the price of the life of an animal in wartime? Humans at least have a choice to flee, but for 5000 animals at the Feldman Ecopark near Kharkiv, Ukraine, just 30 miles from the Russian border, they’re trapped when the shelling starts. Just ten of the zoo’s regular 100-strong staff decide to stay to keep the animals alive, but as the fighting intensifies it becomes imperative to move them to a safer location. With just a couple of vans, and no anesthetics, a handful of volunteers start transporting a motley collection of camels, moose, kangaroos, tapirs, alpacas, parrots, chimpanzees, every animal under the sun, initially to the splendid country estate of the park’s founder Oleksandr Feldman. Lions and tigers and bears are left at the back of the line…

Produced by Leonardo Di Caprio, this amazing Noah’s Ark story is a gripping and unusual perspective on heroism under fire, the extraordinary bond that can develop between humans and animals, and the often overlooked victims of political conflict.

Striking… astonishing… heart-tugging… Checkpoint Zoo portrays a caged and dependent menagerie that bewilderingly experienced humans at their worst and, fortunately, their best.

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times

The human-animal bond is beautifully showcased throughout Checkpoint Zoo, with man and beast meeting each other at the middle. It’s heartwarming, often funny, and fairly mesmerizing, littered with miniature marvels of heroism.

Matt Mahler, Pop Matters