Hacker Cinema
Project Nim
2011 · Film · documentary · 93 min
Directed by James Marsh
From the team behind Man on Wire comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim's extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature - and indeed our own - is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.
4 positive2 mixedfrom 6 commenters
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6 comments on Hacker News
I love documentaries, and these are my favourites. All very worth a watch.
- The Crash Reel
- McConkey
- Buck
- Apollo 11
- Carts of Darkness
- The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia
- Samsara
- Baraka
- Brooklyn Castle
- Spellbound
- Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
- Crumb
- The Jinx
- The Art of Flight
- King of Kong
- Indie Game: The Movie
- Capturing the Friedmans
- OJ: Made in America
- The Barkley Marathons
- The Seven Five
- Murderball
- Unbranded
- Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McAfee
- Big River Man
- Hoop Dreams
- Word Wars
- Free Solo
- Long Shot
- Meru
- Being Elmo
- All This Mayhem
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi
- The Cove
- Project Nim
- Alone in the Wilderness
- Behind the Curve
- The Dawn Wall
- Grizzly Man
- 13th
- Winnebago Man
- Man vs Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler
- Get Me Roger Stone
- Icarus
- 13th
- Koyaanisqatsi
- The Thin Blue Line
- An Inconvenient Truth
- Oklahoma City
- Virunga
- The Staircase
- Evil Genius
- Undefeated
- Betting on zero
Speaking of which, have you seen the _Project Nim_ documentary on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim_Chimpsky ? I would have to say that no, he did not surprise me, and the results were exactly what I would have expected after reading de Waal's _Chimpanzee Politics_.
I found that movie fascinating, but not for the science value (of which there was none). Above all else, two things amazed me:
1. That people thought chimps could use complex language. If they have the capability, why don't they use it in the wild? It'd be a huge advantage.
2. That no human was killed by Nim. Everyone managed to emerge alive (though not unscathed).
Gwern's review of Project Nim echoes my sentiments: http://www.gwern.net/newsletter/2015/03#filmtv
There was a monkey experiment called Project Nim with a documentary about. The footage in that movie is amazing. They used to sit in smoke circles and pass the joint to the chimpanzee. Ultimately the story turned sad when the funding for the research was pulled and I know this is about apes, but I am just saying animals are capable of much more than we think.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1814836/
Project Nim was very similar except Nim was a chimpanzee.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1814836
Unfortunately, it doesn't really have a happy ending and brings up a lot of ethical issues.
Watched a fantastic movie about this, Project Nim