Tribeca 2024: Checkpoint Zoo Review

This will be one of several reviews from this year’s Tribeca film Festival. To follow our coverage, click here.

“Not all animals are animals, and not all humans are humans. But…many animals are human and a whole lot of people are animals.”

Checkpoint Zoo documents the early days of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the daring rescue led by a heroic team of zookeepers and volunteers, who risked their lives to save thousands of animals trapped in a zoo behind enemy lines. Located about 30km (roughly 19 miles) from the Russian border and on the outskirts of Kharkiv (where the fiercest attacks took place initially) Ecopark Feldman found itself in the crossfire, when Russian or Ukrainian shells failed to reach their target, Ecopark was the unfortunate landing ground. Home to over 5,000 animals, Ecopark, an animal sanctuary founded by Oleksandr Feldman, provided support for disabled children and operated free of charge to the public. Once employing over 100 employees, the war dwindled their numbers to around 10 workers with additional volunteers offering to help out. Getting behind enemy lines to feed the trapped animals proves immensely dangerous and time sensitive with drones swirling overhead within hours of arriving, giving the team little time to feed the starving, frightened animals.

As the shelling continues to increase and the Ecopark is all but destroyed, there’s no choice but to evacuate the animals to safe refuge. With no way to transport the animals to other zoos in the country, Feldman converts his mansion property into a makeshift sanctuary with every room filled by different animals, tennis courts populated by goats, and a swimming pool filled with cranes. After weeks of evacuations and still no end in sight to the war, a desperate plea for help in transporting the dangerous animals is posted online, going viral and leading to a global effort to send resources and supplies to assist the Ecopark team. A particularly distressing scene occurs later on, as the area has cooled down enough for the team to venture a few kilometers deep into the park to reach the moose enclosure, an area they had never been able to get to since the war started. The moose are practically walking skeletons having already ate through what little green was in their vicinity. This and stories of animals dying of heart attacks from the mere shock of a missile blast highlight the underseen, overlooked victims of war, animals. Animals unable to understand what’s going on around them but suffering from the impact of war just as much as humans do.

Utilizing a mix of smartphone and GoPro footage on the ground mixed with interviews of the participants reflecting on the experience, the varied quality and format of all the materials could make the presentation as a documentary more unwieldy but for this story it truly puts audiences in the POV of this story. Over the past two years, the news has been flooded with coverage on the Russia-Ukraine war and while the horrors of war are self evident to any, the distance afforded by media coverage can and does rob an event of the personal human toll taking place. It’s one thing to hear about a tragedy and another to see footage of it playing in real time in front of your very eyes. Checkpoint Zoo is often hard to watch in it’s unflinching portrayal of the impacts of war but is consistently compelling.

While the overall rescue mission and perseverance of these heroes may be one of light within darkness, the sacrifices made to accomplish their goal, both mortal and mental are never shied away from. A number of the people appearing in the film lost their lives during this time in pursuit of saving these animals. In the end, Checkpoint Zoo is a harrowing, heartbreaking, and important documentary worth seeking out once it gains wider distribution.

still courtesy of Ghost Robot

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Alex Josevski

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