Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director Brett Morgen uses a trove of never-before-seen 16 mm footage unearthed after 50 years from the National Geographic archives to shed fresh light on trailblazing conservationist Jane Goodall. Morgen, described by The Wall Street Journal as “the leading revolutionary of American documentary film,” tells Goodall’s story starting in 1960, when the 26-year-old woman arrives in a remote area of northwestern Tanzania to study chimpanzees. Driven by her love of animals but lacking any formal training, Goodall triumphs in a male-dominated field, challenging conventional research methods with her unique approach to wildlife observation. Patiently gaining the animals’ trust, she soon makes headlines with the discovery that chimps are highly intelligent and social creatures that use tools to gather food.

When dashing young filmmaker Hugo van Lawick is sent to document her work in 1964, filmmaker and subject soon fall in love, marry and have a child together. But Goodall is shaken when her beloved chimpanzees succumb to an outbreak of polio and engage in a brutal war. Drawing on van Lawick’s stunning wildlife footage and exclusive interviews with Goodall, as well as research footage from the Jane Goodall Institute and Goodall family videos, Morgen offers an unprecedented, intimate portrait of a woman who defied the odds to become one of the world’s most admired conservationists.

Awards:
American Cinema Editors 2018 – Best Edited Documentary Feature; Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2017 – Best Documentary; Cinema Eye Honors Awards 2018 – Audience Choice Prize & Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score; Critics Choice Documentary Awards 2017 – Best Documentary; Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 2017 – Best Documentary; Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2018 – Best Documentary Feature; Iowa Film Critics Awards 2018 – Best Documentary; Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 2017 – Best Documentary; Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2017 – Best Documentary; Leeds International Film Festival 2017 – Audience Award; National Board of Review 2017 – Best Documentary; Nevada Film Critics Society 2017 – Best Documentary; North Texas Film Critics Association 2018 – Best Documentary; Philadelphia Film Festival 2017 – Student Choice Award; Philadelphia Film Critics Circle Awards 2017 – Best Documentary Film; San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2017 – Best Documentary; Women Film Critics Circle Awards 2017 – Best Documentary by or About Women; etc.