''Earthlings'' is a 2005 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about humanity's use of non-human animals as

pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

, and for

scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and medieval world. The ...

. The film is narrated by

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix ( ; ; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. Widely described as one of the most preeminent actors of his generation and known for Joaquin Phoenix filmography, his roles as dark, unconventional and eccentric charact ...

, features music by

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

, and was directed by Shaun Monson, executive produced by Libra Max and co-produced by

Maggie Q Margaret Denise Quigley (born May 22, 1979), professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American actress. She began her professional career in Hong Kong, with starring roles in the action films '' Gen-Y Cops'' (2000) and '' Naked Weapon'' (2002), ...

. A sequel titled '' Unity'' was released in 2015.

Synopsis

Covering factory farms,

pet store A pet shop or pet store is an essential services retailer which sells animals and pet care resources to the public. A variety of animal supplies and pet accessories are also sold in pet shops. The products sold include: food, treats, toys, collar ...

puppy mill A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in ''Avenson v. ...

s, animal experimentation, ''Earthlings'' includes footage obtained through the use of hidden cameras to chronicle the day-to-day practices of some of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely on animals. Then, the film draws parallels between

speciesism Speciesism () is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions. Some specifically define speciesism as discrimination or unjustified treatment based on an indivi ...

and racism, sexism, and more.

Production

The film started off as footage that writer, director, and producer Shaun Monson had shot at animal shelters around

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1999. Monson originally shot the footage for PSAs on spaying and neutering pets, but what he saw moved him so much that he turned it into a documentary. The film would take another six years to complete because of the difficulty of obtaining footage within these industries.

Promotion

commented on the documentary, "Of all the films I have ever made, this is the one that gets people talking the most. For every one person who sees ''Earthlings'', they will tell three."

Animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

philosopher Tom Regan remarked, "For those who watch ''Earthlings,'' the world will never be the same."

Accolades

In 2005, ''Earthlings''

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d at the

Artivist Film Festival The Artivist Film Festival & Awards is an international film festival and awards ceremony dedicated to recognizing activist efforts of filmmakers, specifically in the areas of human rights, child advocacy, environmental preservation, and animal ...

(where it won Best Documentary Feature), followed by the Boston International Film Festival (where it won the Best Content Award) and the

San Diego Film Festival The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival held in San Diego, California, produced by the nonprofit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in autumn at venues in the Gaslamp Q ...

(where it won Best Documentary Film, as well as the Humanitarian Award to Phoenix for his work on the film).

Connection to the Lutsk hostage crisis

On July 21, 2020, Maksym Kryvosh seized a bus with 13 people on board in the city of

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

Volyn Oblast Volyn Oblast () or simply Volyn (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. It borders Rivne Oblast to the east, Lviv Oblast to the south, Poland to the west and Belarus to the north. Its Capital city ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, and demanded, among other things, that President of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

publish a post in which he recommended ''Earthlings'' to everyone. Within a few hours, Zelensky fulfilled Kryvosh's demand, posting a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

video in which he said in Russian, "Everyone should watch the 2005 film ''Earthlings''." Kryvosh then released three

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

s. After a standoff with

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

, Kryvosh was arrested, the other 10 hostages were released, all unharmed, and the President's recommendation video was deleted. The next day, Shaun Monson reacted to the incident by saying that "''Earthlings'' does not endorse or condone acts of terror, as its message is one of compassion for all beings. ..Our hearts go out to all those impacted by this ordeal, to their families, as well as the authorities who ensured that no lives were lost. May we move forward with non-violence toward all."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Earthlings (Documentary) 2005 documentary films 2005 films American documentary films Documentary films about animal cruelty Documentary films about animal rights Documentary films about animal testing Documentary films about vegetarianism Documentary films about veganism Films shot in Los Angeles County, California Vegetarianism in the United States 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films