A film about the life of animal ethics pioneer Professor Andrew Linzey is set to be shown at one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world – the St Louis International Film Festival.
 
‘The Animal Thing’ charts the struggles of animal theologian Andrew Linzey, as explored by his filmmaker son.

Prof Linzey founded the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and was co-creator of the centre’s Annual Oxford Animal Ethics Summer School. He is author and editor of more than 40 books.
 
Today, Prof Linzey considers himself a failure. But despite the price he has paid for confronting the cruelty of animal exploitation, he has also had an enormous and, until now, largely unheralded impact on the modern animal movement, which is why ‘The Animal Thing’ is seen as such an important film. 

The film. 'The Animal Thing' will be shown at The Public Library venue in St Louis on November 9. 

The director Adam Linzey, and producer Jesse Fox, will be at the event and taking part in a Q&A straight after the screening.

The 33rd Whitaker St Louis International Film Festival takes place from November 7 to 17.

It will feature 271 films from more than 30 countries.

The film's director Adam Linzey said: “While interviewing Joyce Tischler, a trailblazing animal rights lawyer, she said, 'Animal people are often broken people'. 

"As soon as she said that, I realised she might as well be describing my Dad.

“Most people who know my father, Andrew Linzey, regard his life as a great success. But Dad sees his life rather differently, as a series of failures.

"Now in his 70s and with his health deteriorating, I wanted to finally tell his story: to explore his ideas and hopefully prove that he’s not a failure.”