In Search of a Zoocentric Perspective in Non-fiction Cinema: the Example of Film Productions by the Open Cages Association

Abstract

Patrycja Chuszcz’s aim in this article is to analyze the film productions of the Open Cages Association, which works for so-called farm animal rights, and to inquire about the attempt to go beyond the anthropocentric perspective in the audiovisual materials created by this organization. She begins her considerations by outlining the tradition of non-fiction film about animals. She discusses the current search for the zoocentric perspective in cinema by documentary and visual artists. Next she analyzes the film productions of the Open Cages Association. She compares the organization’s films with the perspective resulting from interviews with its members and with the literature on the subject. The analysis shows that activists – despite contesting a certain sector of modern civilization (related to industrial livestock production) – rely on the broader and prevailing technological-cultural paradigm. This borrowing is manifested, among other things, in the use of an anthropocentric perspective and anthropomorphism in the films created by the Open Cages Association. However, activists adopt this attitude consciously, following the perspective of effective altruism.