Director: Niki Caro
Writers: Angela Workman (screenplay), Diane Ackerman (book)
Stars: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl
The Zookeeper's Wife is a 2017 war drama film directed by Niki Caro and written by Angela Workman, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Diane Ackerman, recounting the rescue of Jews from the Nazi invasion.The film stars Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Michael McElhatton and Daniel Brühl.
The Zookeeper's Wife had its world premiere on March 8, 2017, in Warsaw, Poland, the location of the story, followed by screening at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California on March 12, 2017, and was released in the United States on March 31, 2017 by Focus Features, and in the United Kingdom on April 21, 2017. It screened in Competition at the Barcelona-Sant Jordi Film Festival on April 22, 2017
Official Trailer
Dr. Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh) and his wife, Antonina (Jessica Chastain) are the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo (Miejski Ogród Zoologiczny), one of the largest and most prolific zoos in 1930s Europe. In the calm of September 1939, Antonina opens the zoo gates. Hours before the zoo opens for the day, a crowd has already gathered to view the many species on display in the zoo. Jan is the director of the Warsaw Zoo and faces the scornful, yet envious advances of Dr. Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl), the head of the Berlin Zoo and "Hitler’s zoologist".
Warsaw becomes the scene of a monstrous upheaval. Jews are singled out before their stores and shops are looted, and they are eventually herded into the Ghetto. Wearing Star of David armbands, two of the Zabinskis' friends, Maurycy Fraenkel (Iddo Goldberg) and his partner Magda Gross (Efrat Dor) seek a haven not for themselves, but for another friend's notable insect collection. Antonina makes an unusual offer to shelter Magda in an attic closet. Jan and his wife take stock of what defiance of the Nazis would mean, but come to the realization that they can save one life.