BBC STORYVILLE TIME SLOT CONFIRMED FOR
TYKE ELEPHANT OUTLAW
Following successful screenings at the Sheffield Documentary Festival in the UK, AFI Docs in Washington, DC, the Sarasota Film Festival in Florida and the Sydney Film Festival, Susan Lambert and Stefan Moore’s feature documentary TYKE ELEPHANT OUTLAW will be broadcast in the BBC’s prestigious Storyville slot on July 22 at 9pm.
The film, co directed and produced by Lambert and Moore, with co-producer Megan McMurchy, will then screen twice at the Melbourne International Film Festival, on Wednesday 5th August at 6.45pm and Saturday 8th at 1.45pm both with a filmmaker Q&A. Susan Lambert will also participate in a MIFF Talking Pictures Panel on Thursday 6th from 5.30pm to 7pm.
“We’ve had an amazing response to the film around the world. Everywhere we go, the issue of interaction between humans and wild animals and the continuing practice of keeping animals for human entertainment remains extremely current and hotly debated,” says co-director Susan Lambert.
The film, described by IndieWire as “tragic and unforgettable”, tells the gripping and emotionally charged story of Tyke, a circus elephant who went on a rampage in Honolulu in 1994, killed her trainer in front of thousands of spectators and died in a hail of gunfire. Her break for freedom – filmed from start to tragic end – traumatised a city and ignited a global battle over the use of animals in the entertainment industry.
Like the classic animal rebellion film King Kong, Tyke is the central protagonist in a tragic but redemptive drama that combines trauma, outrage, insight and compassion.
The film includes the astonishing archival footage of her breakout from the circus and the rampage through the streets of Honolulu.
The film also features interviews with people who knew Tyke and were affected by her death – former trainers and handlers, circus industry insiders, witnesses to her rampage, and animal rights activists for whom Tyke became a global rallying cry….often with strikingly differing perspectives on Tyke’s life and death.