Animal eye

To what extent can we ever understand the experiences of nonhuman animals? And to what extent do we even understand our own? These questions sit at the heart of the short poetic documentary Animal Eye, which probes the diverse visual worlds of creatures big and small. For the film, the US director Carlo Nasisse pairs the reflections of philosophers and scientists with ruminative in-the-lab images of a wide range of animals. Starting from the biology, beauty and mystery of the eye, Nasisse constructs a broader exploration of the limits of human understanding, and our drive to keep looking regardless. The alien worlds beside our own – a journey into animal eyes Director: Carlo Nasisse Producers: Maria Luisa Santos, Dominic Yarabe videoBiology To understand how an animal sees the world, start with the shape of its pupils 5 minutes videoAnimals and humans Are zoos and natural history museums born of a desire to understand, or to control? 57 minutes videoArt The inadvertent art of tiny bodies – stunning, hidden patterns of animal movement 10 minutes videoFuture of technology It takes a careful blend of science, craft and compassion to make a prosthetic eye 6 minutes videoCognition and intelligence How a ‘periodic table’ of animal intelligence could help to root out human bias 5 minutes videoBioethics Who’s watching who at the zoo? 11 minutes videoSleep and dreams How might the dreamworlds of other animals differ from our own? 8 minutes videoBiology To understand the limits of human senses, look to the wild world of animal cognition 45 minutes videoAnimals and humans An unflinching look at a provocative public dissection of a ‘surplus’ zoo lion 13 minutes