This gripping documentary changed the way I thought of circuses for a lifetime. From start to finish, Lion Ark takes you on an adventure filled with wild animals and dangerous carnies that resort to violence in order to keep their abused lions.
The stage is set in Bolivia with ADI, or Animal Defenders International, on a journey to live up to their promise of saving dozens of lions from the severe abuse and torture they experience in the circuses in Bolivia. ADI passed a law banning animal circuses in Bolivia. Throughout the film they go from circus to circus collecting the lions from the carnivals in order to give them a better home in Colorado.
When first watching this film, I was skeptical that it was going to be packed with interviews and, to be honest, boring footage of laws being passed in Bolivia, but that was not the case. Right from the very beginning of the film, the tone is anxious and action-packed with how the ADI volunteers get the lions out of captivity and if the circus people would corporate. Jam Creamer, one of the main founders of ADI and one of the solid voices throughout the documentary, stands strong in the film as a fearless leader for these lions. In one scene, she even pushes through some Bolivian policemen to get over to a circus man who is entering a lion cage and when they try to stop her she shouts, "I don't care!" Creamer pushes the boundaries of this documentary and what it means to speak for living things that don't have a voice of their own.
I was not fully aware of the horrid amounts of torture and abuse that go on in animal acts at the circus until this movie. As a child, I used to love going to the circus and seeing the elephants and lions. When you are little, you don't want to believe that any person could physically hurt an animal. I still don't want to believe it, but in this film there is over five straight minutes of raw footage. ADI collected evidence for the ban law in Bolivia and they show parts of it in the documentary. It is so disturbing in some parts that I began to tear up because of the sheer violence to such innocent living things. It is not for the weak of stomach.
My favorite parts of the documentary are watching the lions develop and see their moods change from being in captivity to their ultimate home in Colorado. One particular lion, Como Como, is introduced as the constantly angry lion that growls ferociously whenever any human comes near his cage and I found it heartwarming watching his transformation into a friendly, loving animal once he is brought to the Colorado Zoo with his other lion pals.
This film really tugs at your heartstrings but also forces you to sit and watch the destruction that people brought to these animals for years. The end of the documentary doesn't leave you with a sense of completion because there is always a new law to be passed and more wrongs to be righted. I truly hope the ADI volunteers continue with their selfless work and make more documentaries that spread the word of these atrocities occurring throughout the world.
*Lion Ark is currently on the festival circuit looking to secure distribution.
