Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber will release Alison Reid’s acclaimed documentary The Woman Who Loves Giraffes in the U.S., with the film opening January 10, 2020 at Quad Cinema in New York and February 21 at Laemmle Theatres in Los Angeles, with subsequent engagements nationwide.
In 1956, four years before Jane Goodall ventured into the world of chimpanzees and seven years before Dian Fossey left to work with mountain gorillas, 23-year-old biologist Anne Innis Dagg made an unprecedented solo journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild.
In The Woman Who Loves Giraffes Anne (now 85) retraces her steps, and with letters and stunning, original 16mm film footage offers an intimate window into her life as a young woman, juxtaposed with a first hand look at the devastating reality that giraffes are facing today. Both the world’s first ‘giraffologist’, whose research findings ultimately became the foundation for many scientists following in her footsteps, and the species she loves have each experienced triumphs as well as setbacks. The Woman Who Loves Giraffes gives us a moving perspective on both.
The documentary was written and directed by Alison Reid (The Baby Formula), and features the voices of Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Victor Garber (Argo, Milk, Titanic), David Chinchilla (The Expanse) and Lindsay Leese (Bomb Girls) reading letters written by young Anne, Fleur de Lys manager, Alex Matthew, Anne’s husband, Ian Dagg, and Anne’s mother, Mary Quayle Innis.
“The first time I heard about Anne Innis Dagg her story captivated me, and never let me go,” said Reid. “As I listened to ‘Wild Journey,’ a CBC radio documentary that told the tale of Anne’s pioneering journey, I was riveted by every word. I immediately read her book ‘Pursuing Giraffe: A 1950’s Adventure’ and knew I had to make a film about it.”
Alison Reid (Director, Writer, Producer) is an award-winning director who began her career as a stunt coordinator and second unit director. After accumulating 300 credits, she formed Free Spirit Films to produce projects diverse in genre but similar in their exploration of the human spirit. Reid received the 2007 Crystal Award for Emerging Director from DGC/WIFT. Her independent feature, The Baby Formula (2009), sold internationally, won the Audience Award at the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival, ‘Best LGBT Film’ at Nashville Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Zenith at the Montreal World Film Festival. Reid is currently directing two episodes of Good Witch (Hallmark). Her television directing credits also include Hudson & Rex, Saving Hope, Heartland and Murdoch Mysteries. Her second unit directing credits include The Umbrella Academy (Netflix).
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