The Zookeepers Wife

Adapted from Diane Ackerman’s 2007 non-fiction book, the film follows Warsaw zookeepers Jan (Heldenbergh) and Antonina (Chastain) as they risk their lives to save Jewish townspeople from the Nazis by concealing them in their zoo home-turned-pig farm. From the opening scene of almost fairy-tale idyll, life is transformed by the arrival of the Nazis.  The film contrasts life in the zoo with the neighbouring Warsaw ghetto and the struggles of its inhabitants as well as the partisans.

The story of the zookeepers who risked their lives repeatedly throughout the war is an incredibly moving and important story, in and of itself. Years later, when asked why they did what they did, Jan Zabinski answered, “I only did my duty—if you can save somebody’s life, it’s your duty to try.” (Sheila O’Malley)