City of Thorns
Topics Synopsis A film based on the book “City of Thorns” by Ben Rawlence. Cabass, a fourteen year old schoolboy,
In Production
This feature length documentary celebrates Jane Goodall’s life in a personal way unseen in any of her previous films. Portrayed through the lens of filmmaker and long-term friend, Richard Ladkani, we will get to know the Jane behind the icon. Jane herself once said that there are two Jane’s: There’s the Jane on stage giving lectures or smiling off the screens as the world’s foremost chimpanzee expert. And then there’s the Jane behind the scenes that only her inner circle and family ever get to know. A Jane that loves to crack jokes on primate’s testicles over a good glass of whiskey, or the Jane that never stops writing letters or a new book while travelling 300 days a year in cars, trains and planes, or the Jane who tries to inspire billionaires and politicians to do more for our planet as she meets them in backrooms of hotels or global conferences, or the Jane who just goes off-line on a remote riverbed in the Brazilian Amazon to reconnect with nature.
As Jane turn’s 90 in April 2024, she’s well aware that her time on earth is slowly running out. Yet, while others her age may have retired decades ago, Jane feels she’s still around for a reason and that reason is to inspire hope. We live in very dark times and Jane feels she can reignite that spark that will never let us be defeated. Just before Snoop Dog came on stage at a massive L.A. concert back in December 2022, Jane was invited to rally the crowds. At the end of her speech, she got a chorus of 30.000 teens to repeat after her: “Together we can… Together we will… Together we must…. Change the world!”
This legacy film is the most personal and intimate film of her life, only made possible by her deep trust and friendship with Richard Ladkani, who she likes to call Richie – although she has referred to him (on camera) as a bloodsucking Tsetse fly on occasion – and usually enjoys having around. It is a film that will allow us to see a Jane beyond the icon, a loving mother, a funny friend, an inspiration on every level who has taken the meaning of living life to the max, to a whole new level.
