In collaboration with Penn Cinema Studies and International House Philadelphia
Koko: A Talking Gorilla
(dir. Barbet Schroeder, 1978, 80 min.)
Teaching Koko human communication is not all sunlight and sweetness in this candid documentary of Koko and her trainer Dr. Francine “Penny” Patterson. Is teaching human sign language to gorillas a breakthrough in communication between humans and apes? Or does it suggest something more troubling about how humans view animals?
Introduction: Shereen Chang, PhD Candidate, Philosophy and Graduate Fellow, Penn Program in the Environmental Humanities
