Victor Kossakovsky Talks Animal Life And Humanity Behind ‘Gunda’ Documentary

Director Victor Kossakovsky’s Gunda centers on the lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens and a herd of cows.  Kossakovsky talked to Deepest Dream about his acclaimed documentary and why seeing through an animal’s life is integral to our own humanity.

Victor Kossakovsky was friends with a piglet named Vasya when he was four. Kossakovsky was understandably devasted when he learned his friend was served as pork cutlet’s for a New Year’s Eve feast. Thus before he filmmaking entered his life, Kossakovsky was a vegetarian.

Those two passions merged with Gunda, a documentary which was roundly praised by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson and is executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix. If you are in an introspective state and are open for a different cinematic experience, Gunda should be your cup of tea.

Shot in black and white sans intrusive music and voiceover, Gunda is akin to having life exist before your eyes. This time, however, the stars of this documentary are animals (including the sow Gunda).

Find Your Film co-hosts Bruce Purkey, Eric Holmes and I gave Gunda postive reviews, and you can check out our discussion on this week’s episode:

Check out my full interview with Victor Kossakovsky below.

Gunda opens in theaters today via NEON.

Support our site and podcasts (CinemAddicts, Find Your Film) by shopping on Amazon: