Coming to DVD/VOD today, Tuesday, November 24:
THE WALRUS AND THE WHISTLEBLOWER
Director:
Nathalie Bibeau
World Premiere:
Hot Docs 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, DOXA, Taipei Golden Horse, Hot Springs Doc, Melbourne Doc, Newburyport Doc
About:
A former marine animal park trainer wages a war to save his beloved walrus.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
Phil Demers, an eccentric free spirit, becomes an unexpectedly popular trainer at Niagara Falls’ Marineland after forming a bond with the park’s first walrus, Smooshi. For the next decade Demers cares for Smooshi and other animals in increasingly decrepit conditions. After he quits as a result of these concerns—and is accused of plotting to steal a walrus—Demers takes to social media and the courts, waging war to save Smooshi. Unconventional and heart-wrenching, Nathalie Bibeau’s film follows Demers on his crusade for justice.
what (not) to doc 