‘Checkpoint Zoo’ Documentary Review: Zookeepers and Volunteers Risk Their Lives In Ukraine

Directed and produced by Joshua Zeman, the award winning documentary Checkpoint Zoo centers on a group of volunteers and zookeepers who risk their lives to save animals at Kharkiv’s Feldman Ecopark. These individuals undertake this process during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Zeman documents the dangerous evacuation of the animals.

 

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Running at 107 minutes, Checkpoint Zoo is also produced by Joshua Zeman (The Loneliest Whale) and Leonardo DiCaprio is among the project’s executive producers.

CinemAddicts co-host Bruce Purkey highly recommends Checkpoint Zoo and gave the documentary ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I’ll be posting my interview with Zeman later this week and I echo everything that Purkey said in his review.

Catch Checkpoint Zoo in theaters across North America starting August 15th (starting at New York’s The QUAD Cinema). On a visceral level, the film will keep viewers on a knife’s edge due to the constant danger the brave people and animals face amidst the bombing and gunfire. An immersive documentary that hopefuly will be remembered come awards time, Checkpoint Zoo is a unique animal rescue/wartime hybrid that is simply unforgettable.