Human stories are usually at the center of films. However, sometimes animals are given more than just a supporting role. They can also be essential and embody the film’s core values. The films selected in this program collect a range of animal motifs – from anthropomorphism and bestiality, to metaphor and fantasy – that feature animals as a central force in their narrative. Sometimes this indirectly reveals a protagonist’s emotional plight, at other times it allows for the representation of underprivileged “others”.

In radically different ways, both Soul (2013) and The Fantasy of Deer Warrior (1961) address the animality that still exists in humans despite our claims to be civilized. While the moths and parrot of The Moths (2015) and Missing Johnny (2017) respectively, suggest the yearnings of metropolitan women who are trapped or striving to break free.

While Black Bear Forest (2016) allows audiences to directly witness the suffering of endangered animals, the viewer’s confrontation with underprivileged “others”, such as vagabonds and those made homeless, is at the center of both The Pig (2013) and God Man Dog (2007) through the analogous representation of animals. Murmur of the Hearts (2015), meanwhile, draws on a mermaid fairytale to look at the childhood trauma of sibling separation, and in The Mountain (2015), the animals at the heart of Indigenous hunting rites help to speak of the people’s plight and the survival of their rituals.