THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE Trailer

While viewers everywhere can support female filmmakers by taking the 52 films by women pledge, actress Jessica Chastain has set a more long-term goal for herself: to work with a female filmmaker every year. She’s already collaborated with many female directors, and considering the clout she’s built, she stands as proof that the work of white, straight men do not have to define an actress’s career.

The Zookeeper’s Wife is yet another project that keeps her goal alive, as the film was both written and directed by women. Niki Caro, who helmed the much lauded Whale Rider back in 2002, has struggled to find consistent work and could use a high profile release to kick a long gestating Maria Callas biopic into gear. Chastain’s name, along with the tried and true Nazi resistance plot that Zookeeper boasts, might just draw enough of an audience to do that.

Outside of all the female hoopla, it’s important to note that the film is based on true events, circuitously adapted from the diary of Antonina Żabińska. Whether the real-life zookeeper’s wife let her son nap with lion cubs is questionable (my guess is no), the menagerie should make for lots of unusual encounters as the characters hide from and scheme against the occupying regime. That likely won’t jolt the film out of the reverent biopic formula completely, but it should bring some nice twists to the familiar setup.

The Zookeeper’s Wife is directed by Niki Caro and stars Jessica Chastain, Daniel Brühl, and Johan Heldenbergh. It will be released in the U.S. on March 31st, 2017 and in the U.K. on May 5th, 2017. For international release dates, click here.

Do you think The Zookeeper’s Wife will draw a large audience? Let us know in the comments!