Screenings at TIFF21
12 June 2022
Tarzan’s Testicles will be screened in Cluj on Monday, June 20, 14:30h and Wednesday, June 22, 15h in Cinema Arta: https://tiff.ro/film/ouale-lui-tarzan
Watch on Vimeo on Demand
26 June 2021
Our friends at Deckert Distribution have placed „Tarzan’s Testicles” on VoD, the link is:
Professor Lapin, Fedora and Dr. Voronoff’s ghost
24 May 2020
I just found out that Professor Boris Arkadievich Lapin has passed away on April 30. At 98 years, he was still running the Russian Institute of Medical Primatology (RAMS) in Sochi, as Scientific Director. Boris Arkadievich has been the director of the Primate Research Institute (NIIEPIT) in Sukhum since the 1950’s until 1993, when he … More Professor Lapin, Fedora and Dr. Voronoff’s ghost
Online on dafilms.com
22 January 2019
Tarzan’s Testicles is also available to watch online at dafilms.com; check this link: https://dafilms.com/film/10592-tarzan-s-testicles
“T’s T” to be screened in 23 universities!
2 October 2018
So excited Tarzan’s Testicles has been chosen by students across our continent as the only documentary among the 5 films nominated for the European University Film Award! The nominated films will be viewed and discussed in 23 universities in 23 countries and each institution will select its favourite film. In early December, one student representative … More “T’s T” to be screened in 23 universities!
Selected for the European Film Awards
23 August 2018
Tarzan’s Testicles is among the 15 documentaries selected for a nomination for this year’s European Film Awards. EFA Members will now vote for five documentary nominations. Based on these nominations, the EFA Members will then elect the ‘European Documentary 2018’ which will be announced during the awards ceremony on 15 December in Seville. For more information … More Selected for the European Film Awards
Tarzan Goes to Church. In Cork.
17 November 2017
Wednesday, Tarzan’s T. was screened in the inciting and friendly Cork Film Festival. The venue was the former Christchurch, today the Triskel Cultural Centre. The audience sits in benches, the organ is still there, but instead of the altar – there’s a screen. I found it a very appropriate place for our film, since religion … More Tarzan Goes to Church. In Cork.
The October Revolution. In Sarajevo.
9 November 2017
“Tarzan’s Testicles” has been screened last night at the Pravo Ljudski Festival in Sarajevo. It was screened after Eisenstein’s “October”, in its beautiful remastered version with Edmund Meisel’s music. A daring and wise programming has put together the Revolution’s avant-garde monumental representation and the ruins of the same Revolution, as seen in Abkhazia 100 years … More The October Revolution. In Sarajevo.
Letter to Zinaida Vsevolodovna
24 October 2017
Dear Zinaida Vsevolodovna, I remember when I first visited you at the Institute, in August 2011. You were 83 and picked up a book from a shelf in your office. It was called “The Formula of Life”. Your office was full of books, scientific but also literary. You were – as always – busy day … More Letter to Zinaida Vsevolodovna
Mothers
11 October 2017
“Our female colleagues are away, solving the demographic problem in Abkhazia”. This is one of the sentences I heard very often at the Institute. I was told many of the young women from the staff were on maternal leave. Indeed, the country badly needs to be repopulated. Half of the people vanished or fled during … More Mothers
The Caged Camera
8 October 2017
In each film I made, there was (at least) one failed experiment. While making Tarzan’s Testicles, I had this idea of filming from inside the cages, to emulate somehow what monkeys see and look at people from beyond the bars. So we placed the camera for several days inside one of the free cages and we stayed … More The Caged Camera
Chichiko. The Superstar.
27 September 2017
We first met Chichiko when we went down to film in September-October 2015. He was a couple of months old then and Tania was very happy to show him around to the tourists roaming in the park of the Primate Institute. Chichiko was probably the 12th or 13th monkey that Tania has raised at home, … More Chichiko. The Superstar.
Waiting, Drinking and Filming
23 September 2017
Making documentaries involves living together with your characters. It implies a lot of waiting, since the people you want to film can offer only parts of their lives to the camera. Often, your characters treat you as guests – you are guests into their lives. In a country like Abkhazia – and generally in the … More Waiting, Drinking and Filming
The Unseen: Birth and Death
20 September 2017
As soon as I visited the monkey colony in Sukhum, I felt death is a constant presence. The monkey’s life cycle is shorter, so it happens – now and then – that one of the cages remains empty. In those six years I worked on the film, some great characters disappeared, like The Professor or … More The Unseen: Birth and Death
The Abkhaz Dilemma
15 September 2017
I have a collection of Abkhaz visas: tiny colored pieces of paper that are not glued into my passport. These are my tangible proof that I visited a state which doesn’t exist on most of the world’s official maps. As soon as I crossed the border, my phone stopped working. It was impossible to pay … More The Abkhaz Dilemma
When Man plays with Nature
12 September 2017
The creation of the Primate Institute in Sukhum, in 1927, is linked with Doctor Ivanov’s experiments and his plans to create a hybrid between man and ape. This piece of amazing history is what stirred me in the first place to make Tarzan’s Testicles. But Ivanov’s experiments where not at all isolated in the interwar period. Medicine … More When Man plays with Nature
Primates in the Cold War
8 September 2017
When you visit Abkhazia – and hopefully you will, at least by watching Tarzan’s Testicles – you are struck by the feeling that this small world has been frozen 25 years ago. This comes not only from the Soviet relics that pop up here and there, but from a way of life. In the Primate … More Primates in the Cold War
Eternal Youth – a brief report
5 September 2017
As soon as I got to know the primatological world of Sukhum, I was struck by the generational gap that defines it. On one hand, there were the seniors, still coming to work at 85 years or more and running the business. On the other hand, the new generation of researchers was reaching its 30’s. … More Eternal Youth – a brief report
Returning Tarzan to Sukhum
2 September 2017
Screening the film in Sukhum for the protagonists and their colleagues. … More Returning Tarzan to Sukhum
90 Years / Coincidences
8 August 2017
August and 90 years. … More 90 Years / Coincidences
Tarzan's Testicles 