Variety: “By the end, the Institute has become an exemplar of Abkhazia itself, an uncanny microcosm reflecting a jumble of conflicting dichotomies — old and new, scientific and religious, kind and cruel, proud and pitiful, forward-thinking and backward-looking — that can somehow co-exist within the same space, or even the same person. “Tarzan’s Testicles” quietly but forcefully suggests not only that it’s possible to live on the front line of the war between such opposing forces, but actually that maybe that’s all human beings are: sentient monkeys who somehow developed the ability to live in a state of ongoing paradox.” [Jessica Kiang]
Hollywood Reporter: “A fascinating and ambitious documentary that should further help consolidate Solomon’s reputation as one of world cinema’s most interesting nonfiction directors.” [Boyd van Hoeij]
The Playlist has selected the film among the 20 Best Docs of 2017 so far: “Without a doubt the best title for a doc — or any film, really — that we’re likely to come across in 2017, for the foreseeable future you may have to do some rooting through festival sidebars to be able to track down Romanian director Alexandru Solomon‘s “Tarzan’s Testicles. But we strongly urge you to do so: it’s a wild, weird yet contemplative look at the only partially recognized Black Sea nation of Abkhazia, and the Institute in its capital in which apes and monkeys are bred for live scientific experimentation.”
Tarzan's Testicles 