Michael Vale

Cobby: The Other Side of Cute

Cobby's Hobbies was a 1960's children's TV program featuring a chimpanzee getting hmself into all sorts of mischief. For filmmaker Donna McRae, the show was a crucial part of getting through a lonely childhood. McRae seeks people that made the show, Cobby's zoo friends, zoo keepers and the animal rights activists that help her piece together the story of an animal stolen from his natural habitat to work on TV before, being retired into the San Francisco Zoo at age 7. Most primates chimps in entertainment suffered horrifically, becoming research animals or caged in roadside zoos. This documentary examines how we perceive animals in entertainment and how we address their plight now.

Lost Gully Road

Lucy travels to an isolated house in the forest to wait for her sister. They have worked out a risky scheme for their future and all she needs to do is sit it out. However a sinister presence may have something different in mind.