DOC - Happy in the Bronx

Documentary Short

Title: Happy in the Bronx

Project Status: In Production

Logline 

Is Happy, happy? Called the loneliest elephant in the world, Happy is a 53 year old Asian elephant who has lived at the Bronx Zoo for 46 years, 17 in solitary confinement. Happy’s team of attorneys, asked the courts for her release to a Tennessee sanctuary; after their appeal was unsuccessful, a NYC council member and animal rights activists have taken up her cause.

Synopsis

Happy in the Bronx is a short documentary that will tell the story of Happy, an elephant at the Bronx Zoo, and the legal case to change the physical, and perhaps emotional circumstances of her life.

Known as one of America’s loneliest elephants, Happy has been forced to live in solitude for the last 16 years.

In nature, elephants live in bonded matriarchal families. Females never leave the herd, forming lifelong attachments with siblings, cousins and aunts as well as with their mothers.

After reading an article about Happy’s legal case, I attended the hearing in February 2020 at Bronx Supreme Court.

Attorney’s from the Nonhuman Rights Project argued for recognition of their client’s legal personhood, right to liberty and equality, and release to a Tennessee sanctuary.

Like all nonhuman animals, Happy is considered a thing in the eyes of the law, with no fundamental rights, according to Nonhuman Rights Project attorney Steven Wise.

The case progressed to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, and I filmed the livestream projection in a park in front of the courthouse in Albany.

Though the attorneys did not prevail on Happy’s behalf, this case tested the boundaries of applying human rights to animals.

Two judges wrote strongly worded minority opinions which referenced an African man, Ota Benga. In 1906, he was exhibited at the Bronx Zoo next to the primates.

Judges Wilson and Rivera wrote courageous dissents in Happy’s case that link “our country’s tortured history of oppression and subjugation” of humans based on characteristics such as race, gender, culture, national origin, and citizenship to the suffering and rightlessness of nonhuman animals."

As of March 2023, there was a new development in this evolving story--NY City Council member Shahana Hanif, (coincidentally the member who represents my district), introduced a bill in the City Council that would essentially ban elephants on less than 15 acres. If passed, this would be the first ban in the country. We anticipate the arc of the film to be the legislative efforts to close the elephant exhibit at the Bronx Zoo, allowing Happy to live the rest of her life at a Tennessee sanctuary, where her well- being takes priority.

Additional Project Info

I received a Brooklyn Arts Council grant in 2023, for "Happy in the Bronx" and a second grant for 2024 is pending notification. I applied for the New York Women's Fund for Film, Television, and Music for 2024, pending notification.

Team

Nancy Siesel, Director, Producer,Cinematographer

Ansh Kakkar WIP Editor

Tanya Glebova WIP Editor

Sam O'Sullivan Assistant Editor, Script Collaborator

Seeking

Producing Partners, Distribution, Online Distribution

Rights Available

All rights available

Contact

Nancy Siesel

nansie718@gmail.com