SIFF DocFest: Checkpoint Zoo
October 6, 2024
Checkpoint Zoo follows a daring rescue mission by courageous zookeepers and volunteers to save thousands of animals trapped in a beloved Ukrainian animal refuge as the Russian invasion approaches.
Join us Sunday, October 6th from 5:00-7:00PM at The Traveling Goat for the DocFest Happy Hour, sponsored by Seattle Documentary Association.
Individual Tickets: Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $100 | $75 Members - Provides access to all DocFest screenings
SIFF year-round passes are not valid for DocFest screenings.
Checkpoint Zoo is a gripping documentary set during the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when Kharkiv’s beloved Feldman Ecopark Zoo found itself caught in the crossfire between advancing Russian forces and Ukrainian defenders. Home to over 5,000 animals, the approaching front line left the zoo’s creatures trapped in their cages with little food and water, facing starvation and increasing danger as the Russian army approached. Against all odds, a courageous team of zookeepers and volunteers risked their lives to embark on a seemingly impossible mission: to bring these innocent animals to safety. Director Joshua Zeman weaves together gripping interviews and powerful footage—much filmed by the participants themselves—to both shed light on an often overlooked aspect of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and to capture the extraordinary courage and compassion of these brave souls who refused to abandon hope in the face of unimaginable adversity.
- Director: Joshua Zeman
- Principal Cast: Oleksandr Feldman, Vadym Vorotynskyy, Vitalii Ilchenko, Svitlana Vyshnevetska, Andrii Tyvaniuk, Vitalii Sevelin
- Country: USA, Ukraine
- Year: 2024
- Running Time: 103 min.
- Producer: Joshua Zeman, Zachary Mortensen, Ian Davies, Torquil Jones
- Cinematographers: Nelson Hume, Olivier Sarbil
- Editors: Cy Christiansen, Andrew Ford, Kelly Kendrick, Daniel Lonsbury
- Music: Anne Nikitin
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 (2021), Killer Legends (2014)
- Language: English, Russian, Ukrainian
- Format: DCP
- US Distributor: UTA