Mark Devries–the documentary filmmaker (https://markdevries.com/) who specializes in exploring the realm of animals and animal welfare—expands on the final line (the fate of our kin is up to us) of his new film, “Humans and Other Animals.”
Laying out an eloquent and philosophical operating principle—which permeates his new film,
as it did his debut doc, “Speciesism: The Movie” —Devries notes that the number of animals dwarfs the tally of humans globally, hoping for a time where “non-human animals” will be taken more seriously, and treated far better. He explains why a core section of “Humans and Other Animals” is devoted to investigating factory farming, an echo of a major exploration he undertook in the first doc—though, in the new flick he’s outfitted for this quest with high-tech equipment, including sophisticated drones, special hidden cameras, and robotic devices custom-created for Devries. He discusses what he uncovered through these surveillance efforts, while acknowledging the low-key gumption of simply knocking on the doors of some of these secretive operations resulted in an employee actually showing him factory records. Observing that in “Humans and Other Animals,” he spoke with a vast array of notable figures–a big battalion of animal welfare leaders, scientists, authors, researchers, academics, and entrepreneurs—I inquire what things he learned from these conversations he found most surprising. His answer (incidentally, I felt the same way) involved the research spotlighting the scientist and professor, Con Slobochikoff, who’s studied prairie dogs for 30-plus years at Northern Arizona University, discovering that these animals communicate in a complex language, complete with nouns, verbs, and adjectives. We also discuss
the section of the new doc devoted to addressing corvids (crows, ravens, etc.) and the birds’ supreme intelligence, their acute problem-solving skills, and uncanny ability to remember human faces for years. We also see their winsome playfulness when, on a snowy day, a crow converts an object into a snowboard of sorts, taking multiple runs down the roof of a building. “Humans and Other Animals” is streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and Google Play. (https://www.humansandotheranimalsmovie.com/, https://www.facebook.com/speciesism, https://www.instagram.com/markdevriesstudio)
ALSO: I spoke briefly with Diane Emery, owner of Whiskers Workplace, a new enterprise in Saint Petersburg that rents out workspaces of various sizes, furnished with various kinds of equipment and furniture—and populated by varying numbers of adoptable cats. Speaking on the eve of Whiskers Workplace’s soft opening, Emery recalls the genesis of this business idea—adapting the spaces she already had for taking depositions (demand dipped as a result of the pandemic), and aiming to cultivate adoptions of the cats available at CJPaws, a Saint Pete cat rescue which happens to share the building address of Whiskers Workplace. Emery briefly describes the workspace options, including a cat-free room for those clients who might need a respite from feline friends, and another that’s specially equipped for recording podcasts. (https://whiskersworkspace.com/, https://cjpaws.org/, https://www.facebook.com/whiskersworkspace)
COMEDY CORNER: Paula Poundstone’s “Cats Puff Up” (https://paulapoundstone.com/)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.
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