„ZOOTOPIA – A Vision of a Multispecies Society“
feature documentary by Tristan Ferland Milewski
– in development –

“The world is currently ruled by an animal that doesn’t consider itself an animal.”  
— Melanie Challenger

Climate crisis, war, rising social and economic inequality. If we want to survive on this planet, we need radical change. Could the next logical step be to envision a future beyond human species boundaries? Is the society of tomorrow multispecies?

What would ZOOTOPIA concretely look like? 

Through the perspective of nonhuman animals, we witness trailblazing pilot projects that are already moving toward the vision of multispecies justice and explore fascinating examples of interspecies coexistence. Photorealistic 3D animations scale these microcosms into the broader world, creating a bold vision for the society of the future.

Backed by leading international experts, ZOOTOPIA challenges today’s power structures. Animals as equal citizens? Animals as active participants in political decisions? Would that be possible? What would the cities of the future look like? What would this mean for our political, legal, and social structures? How can we find new ways of cross-species understanding? How can we learn from other knowledge systems and different ways of perceiving the world? Is a fair multispecies society possible within a capitalist, patriarchal and heteronormative system? Is interspecies justice achievable without decolonization? Can ZOOTOPIA work in a world where only some humans are fully recognized as human?

ZOOTOPIA is playfully designing a provocative manifesto for the future.

Screenplay and Director: Tristan Ferland Milewski
Camera: Dunja Engelbrecht
Animations: Animali Domestici
produced by: CORSO Film
development funded by: FFA German Federal Film Board

presented at the Co-Pro Market at DOK Leipzig on 9-10th of October 2023