Checkpoint Zoo

Last updated
Checkpoint Zoo
Directed by Joshua Zeman
Written byJoshua Zeman, Daniel Lonsbury
Produced byJoshua Zeman, Zachary Mortensen, Ian Davies, Torquil Jones
CinematographyNelson Hume, Olivier Sarbil
Edited byCy Christiansen, Andrew Ford, Kelly Kendrick, Daniel Lonsbury
Music byAnne Nikitin
Production
companies
Ghost Robot, Noah Media Group
Release date
  • August 15, 2025 (2025-08-15)
Running time
107 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
Languages
  • English
  • Ukrainian
  • Russian

Checkpoint Zoo is a 2024 American documentary film directed by Joshua Zeman. The film follows a group of Ukrainian zookeepers and volunteers who risked their lives to rescue animals trapped in Feldman Ecopark during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. [1] The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and received positive reviews from critics.

Contents

Synopsis

The documentary deals with the 71-day rescue mission to evacuate thousands of animals from Kharkiv’s Feldman Ecopark, which was shelled with Russian artillery during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. [2] [3]

Production

Director Joshua Zeman was inspired to create the documentary after seeing a viral video of ChiChi the chimpanzee wandering Freedom Square in Kharkiv. [4] The team gathered footage from zookeepers and news reports and made trips to the site to film additional footage on location. [2]

Release

Checkpoint Zoo had its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival on June 6, 2024. [5] . The film is to be released in theaters in North America starting August 15, 2025.

Critical response

The film was praised by critics for its emotional storytelling and depiction of human-animal compassion during wartime. [2] [6] [7] [8] Britt Collins of The Daily Beast wrote that it as "a work of heart-stopping suspense and tenderness." [9] Dennis Harvey of Variety praised Joshua Zeman's direction, describing it as polished and suspenseful. [3]

Awards and honors

AwardDateCategoryRecipientResultRef.
Palm Springs International Film FestivalJanuary 2025Desert Views Award, Audience AwardCheckpoint ZooWon
Annapolis Film FestivalMarch 2025Jury PrizeCheckpoint ZooWon
Mill Valley Film FestivalOctober 2025Audience AwardCheckpoint ZooWon
Minneapolis St. Paul International Film FestivalApril 2025Best DocumentaryCheckpoint ZooWon
Salem Film FestivalMarch 2025Audience Award: Best FilmCheckpoint ZooWon
OKO International Ethnographic Film FestivalSeptember 2025Jury Grand PrizeCheckpoint ZooNominee
Tribeca Film FestivalJune 2024Audience Award (2nd Place)Checkpoint ZooWon [5]
Hamptons International Film FestivalOctober 2024Zelda Penzel "Giving Voice to the Voiceless" AwardCheckpoint ZooWon [10]
Miami International Film FestivalApril 2025Documentary Achievement Jury AwardCheckpoint ZooWon [10]

References

  1. ↑ "Checkpoint Zoo | 2024 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  2. 1 2 3 Rosenbloom, Alli (2024-06-05). "'Checkpoint Zoo' captures the risky rescue of an entire zoo amid the war in Ukraine". CNN. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  3. 1 2 Harvey, Dennis (2025-01-08). "'Checkpoint Zoo' Review: A Wildlife Park Becomes a War Zone in Compelling Documentary". Variety. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  4. ↑ Clements, Sara (2024-06-18). ""CHECKPOINT ZOO" - Review". Next Best Picture. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  5. 1 2 "Checkpoint Zoo | 2024 Tribeca Festival". Tribeca.
  6. ↑ Review®, The Peach (2024-06-10). "2024 Tribeca Film Festival – 'CHECKPOINT ZOO' Review: A flawless victory for cinema › THE PEACH REVIEW®". thepeachreview.com. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  7. ↑ Francis, Anthony (2024-06-10). "Tribeca 2024: Documentary- Checkpoint Zoo". The Movie Revue. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  8. ↑ Reed, Christopher Llewellyn (2024-06-07). "Tribeca Review: "Checkpoint Zoo" | Film Festival Today" . Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  9. ↑ "How Putin Got a Man Mauled to Death by a Lion". The Daily Beast. 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2025-04-30.
  10. 1 2 "Checkpoint Zoo". Ghost Robot.
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