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Human Zoos to Premiere in South Africa and Seattle

Human Zoos is an award-winning documentary about America’s sorry history of scientific racism, including the shocking display of Africans and others as “missing links” between apes and humans, and the widespread effort to breed “better” humans through Darwinian eugenics.

The documentary won’t be generally released until September, but regional screenings are already taking place and an extensive website about the film has been created. Last week, the film was shown in Philadelphia. Next week, April 18, it will be screened in Houston. Now two more premieres have been announced for May in South Africa and Seattle.

Named an official selection of the Africa World Documentary Film Festival, Human Zoos will be shown at Stellenbosch University in South Africa on May 1 and 5.

A few days later, the film will get a Seattle premiere on May 8 at a special screening sponsored by Discovery Institute at the famed Woodland Park Zoo. The Seattle premiere will include Q&A with the film’s director, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow John West. The Seattle screening is free, but registration is required, and you can register now.

The Oregon Documentary Film Festival called Human Zoos “a racially charged story that will mesmerize you… You have to see it to believe it and then wonder why they didn’t teach you this chapter in history class.”

Anyone interested in the grim history of Social Darwinism in America, or debates over scientific racism and the sanctity of human life, will want to see this documentary.

The film features interviews with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Pamela Newkirk, author of Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga; California State University historian Richard Weikart, author of The Death of Humanity; philosopher Jay Richards; and theologian Olufemi Oluniyi of the Centre for Values and Social Change in Nigeria.

The documentary has already received several awards, including “Best in Show” from the Cinema Worldfest Awards in Toronto, Canada; “Best Editing” from the Oregon Documentary Film Festival; and “Awards of Excellence” from the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards and the Impact DOCS Awards.