- For anyone concerned about reducing the suffering of animals, there can be no more important project than informing Chinese people about how animals are treated. All the improvements in animal welfare that have taken place in Europe and the United States pale into insignificance compared to the vast numbers of animals who continue to suffer in China, without the benefit of any animal welfare legislation to protect them.This film, The Zodiac 12, has the potential to change that.-- Peter Singer, project advisorAuthor, Animal Liberation, Professor of Bioethics
Watch how we relate to non-human animals today.
The Zodiac 12 Teaser
Everyone born and raised in China has an animal “dearest” to them based on their year of birth. It is conceptually interesting that 12 animals levy this huge influence on the world’s largest nation. Over its long history, the Chinese civilization has offered great wisdom regarding to how humanity relate to Nature and to other beings.
Unfortunately, the reality today for the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac isn’t that rosy. As the single largest market for almost all animal products—meat, dairy, eggs, fur, leather, ivory, products tested on animals, companion animals and animals for performance, China today is in general not treating these 12 or most of its non-human animals with compassion or care, except for perhaps a small handful of most "useful" animals such as pandas. Yet many people in China will find this surprising, since the vast majority of us haven’t seen this treatment with our own eyes, because the harsh reality is always hidden from us.
We plan to respond to that question by focusing on those dozen animals for whom the Chinese have dedicated a special place in their culture for centuries.
The Zodiac 12
A Film
The film will consist of 12 parts/chapters, which can be viewed/read either in their entirety or as stand-alone segments. Each part/chapter will follow a Zodiac animal, with each animal representing a particular area of concern for animal welfare:
Right now, we are raising funds and doing pre-production research for Zodiac 12, the feature-length documentary. On this page, you will be able to watch a series of shorts we made during the research stage. They are not part of the actual documentary but may help you understand more what we try to capture.
Any kind of support is welcomed and appreciated. Please contact us at info@zodiac12.net.
Peter Singer
Project advisor
彼得·辛格教授,《动物解放》作者、普林斯顿大学生命伦理学讲座教授。以有效利他主义的应用伦理学研究而闻名全球。《纽约客》(New Yorker) 对他的评价为地球上“健在的最有影响力的哲学家”。See more here
Guo Peng
Project advisor
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religeous Studies, School of Philosophy and Social Development, Shandong University. Prof. Guo got her M. Phil. in Linguistic Philosophy from the Philosophy Dept. of the University of Sheffield in the UK. She has been a prominant scholar activist of animal rights and has dedicated herself to rescuing street animals.
Jian Yi
Jian Yi is a Yale World Fellow (2009), an India-China Fellow (2008-2010), an Asian Cultural Council grantee (2008), a visiting fellow at Cambridge University (2007) and a delegate to Asia Society's Asia 21 Young Leaders' Summit (2011). He got his MAs in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame (1998) and in International Journalism from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute (1999). See more here
Jenny M. Tang
International Coordinator for Preproduction
唐淼是一位澳大利亚华裔制片人,制作过商业广告、短片、故事片和纪录片中等不同类型作品。丰富的国际合作经验,曾与欧洲、亚洲和北美团队合作制片。她是一个十足的摄影师爱好者和世界旅游者。
Kelly Guerin
Kelly Guerin is a documentary filmmaker for animal rights based out of Denver, Colorado. In 2014, she graduated with Latin honorific degrees from the University of Colorado for her research on Western cultural rejections of vegan philosophy. She works independently and alongside non-profits to create films exploring humanity’s relationship with non-human animals.
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