or


[12/04/12 - 07:29 AM]
Sundance-Winning Documentary "Project Nim," Following One Chimp's Extraordinary and Revealing Journey, Debuts Dec. 20, Exclusively on HBO
James Marsh directed the film, which is based on the book "Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human" by Elizabeth Hess.

[via press release from HBO]

SUNDANCE-WINNING DOCUMENTARY "PROJECT NIM," FOLLOWING ONE CHIMP'S EXTRAORDINARY AND REVEALING JOURNEY, DEBUTS DEC. 20, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

Raised like a child, studied as an experiment and returned to captivity when his animal instincts surfaced, Nim Chimpsky lived a life that was as exceptional as it was heart-wrenching.

From the Oscar(R)-winning team behind "Man on Wire," PROJECT NIM tells the story of the chimpanzee who was the focus of a landmark experiment to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Combining recent testimony from key participants with dramatic imagery and newly discovered archival film from the 1970s, the feature documentary follows Nim's extraordinary journey through human society, chronicling his enduring impact on the people he meets.

Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, PROJECT NIM debuts THURSDAY, DEC. 20 (9:00-10:45 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

Other HBO playdates: Dec. 24 (4:30 p.m.) and 28 (2:45 p.m.), and Jan. 1 (11:55 p.m.), 6 (12:30 p.m.), 9 (10:30a.m.) and 14 (3:45 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Jan. 2 (8:00 p.m.). 22 (1:00 p.m.) and 28 (12:45 p.m., 12:35 a.m.)

Based on the book "Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human," by Elizabeth Hess, PROJECT NIM is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal that sciencetried to make human. What it reveals about his true nature - and humanity's - is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.

In 1973, at the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, a baby chimp is born. A few dayslater, his mother is knocked down by a tranquilizer, and her screaming babyseized and placed into the arms of a new human "mother." Thus begins Project Nim, a university-funded experiment to show that a chimpanzee can learn to communicate with language if raised like a human. Under the auspices of Columbia psychology professor Herb Terrace, the chimp, Nim, is brought to NYC to live with Stephanie LaFarge, one of Terrace's former students.

Though LaFarge knows next to nothing about chimps, her bond with Nim is immediate, but the collateral damage on her home and family eventually becomes a problem. Displeased with Nim's unstructured upbringing, Terrace enlists psychology student Laura Petitto to ferry Nim back and forth to a Columbia classroom and teach him sign language. Eventually, he moves Nim and Petitto to the Delafield Estate, a Riverdale mansion owned by Columbia. As Nim learns to communicate using dozens of signs, the media latches on to Nim's story, resulting in a cover piece in New York magazine.

As time passes, Nim grows stronger and his animal nature emerges. Though affectionate and playful, he also becomes aggressive and unpredictable. Having been bitten once too often by Nim and after briefly becoming romantically involved with Terrace, Petitto leaves Delafield, ceding control of Nim to Bill Tynan and Joyce Butler, who counters a Nim attack with a warning bite of her own. Renee Falitz, trained as an interpreter for the deaf, also works with Nim, but leaves after Nim savagely bites her in the face.

Explaining, "Nobody keeps chimps more than five years," Terrace decides to end the experiment, and returns a tranquilized Nim to the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, where the disoriented animal encounters other chimps for the first time since birth. Although the other chimps don't understand sign language, Nim eventually adjusts to living with them under the supervision of IPS staffers Bob Ingersoll and Alyce Moore. When the center runs out of funds a few years later, Nim and other chimps are sold to LEMSIP, an NYU research facility, where they are subjected to a series of lab experiments while living in small cages. Though he later condemns such research as inhumane, Dr. James Mahony supervises these experiments, drawing the ire of Ingersoll and other Nim caregivers.

News of Nim's predicament inspires a movement to free him. After lawyer Henry Herrmann suggests that Nim be given a day in court to testify on his own behalf using sign language, NYU sells the chimp to Cleveland Amory, an animal-rights activist who runs Black Beauty Ranch, a Texas sanctuary for abused, mostly hooved, animals. But with no chimps or human friends, Nim is isolated and lonely; he smashes a TV and accidentally kills a poodle in a fit of rage. When Stephanie LaFarge, his first human mother, reunites with Nim after almost 20 years, Nim immediately recognizes her and attacks when she unwisely enters his cage. Though shaken by the experience, LaFarge is relieved and grateful when Nim spares her life.

When LEMSIP closes in 1995, Mahony moves a number of the facility's chimps to more humane locations. Two of them, Mitch and Lulu, join Nim at Black Beauty, and his life and attitude improve. With old friend Bob Ingersoll often dropping by for visits, Nim lives for five more years before dying of a heart attack in May 2000.

For more on the film, please visit facebook.com/HBODocs and twitter.com @HBODocs #ProjectNim.

PROJECT NIM is directed by James Marsh; produced by Simon Chinn; editor, Jinx Godfrey; executive producers, John Battsek, Andrew Ruhemann, Jamie Laurenson, Nick Fraser and Hugo Grumbar; director of photography, Michael Simmonds; original music by Dickon Hinchliffe. For HBO Documentary Films: senior producer, Nancy Abraham; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.





  [december 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





[10/08/25 - 11:44 AM]
Paramount+ Greenlights Season Two of Showtime Original Series "Dexter: Resurrection"
The series has been greenlit for season two with the writers' room now open.

[10/08/25 - 10:12 AM]
Video: Two-Time Emmy Nominated "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr." Celebrates Upcoming Season 12 with Series Trailer
20 new celebrity guests will sit down with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. to learn about their genealogical history and the journeys of their ancestors dating back hundreds of years when the series returns January 6 on PBS.

[10/08/25 - 10:01 AM]
Video: "I Love LA" - Official Trailer - HBO Max
Rachel Sennott's new HBO original series streams November 2 on HBO Max.

[10/08/25 - 09:31 AM]
HBO Documentary Films Joins Production of Earth, Wind & Fire Project Directed by Academy Award and Grammy Winner Questlove
The film examines the iconic group's lasting legacy, cultural impact, and enduring body of work, and features exclusive access to the band's archives of visual, audio, and written material.

[10/08/25 - 09:28 AM]
Paramount+ Officially Greenlights and Announces 2026 Start of Production for "9/12," A Six-Part Limited Series with Emmy and Tony Award Winner and Oscar Nominee Jeremy Strong Set to Star and Executive Produce
Produced by Paramount Television Studios and SISTER, production is set to begin in the summer of 2026 and the series will launch globally on Paramount+ in 2027.

[10/08/25 - 09:05 AM]
Food Network Will Deliver More Than 50 Hours Of Holiday Programming This Year Including New Seasonal Spin-off "Tournament of Champions: All-Star Christmas," and "Sweet Empire"
The holidays begin with the return of "Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking" on Sunday, November 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

[10/08/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "The Bad Guys: Breaking In" New Series Trailer - Netflix Family
How did the Bad Guys break into the bad guy business in the first place? Find out in this hilarious prequel series set before the hit films.

[10/08/25 - 09:00 AM]
Danny Trejo Returns for Season 2 of "Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo" Premiering Nov. 11 on The History Channel
Mysteries can be buried anywhere - under the earth, beneath the sea, or even right under our own feet.

[10/08/25 - 09:00 AM]
Video: Prime Video Releases the Official Trailer and Key Art for "Allen Iv3rson"
Directed by One9, the documentary will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on October 23 in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide and is the latest addition to the Prime membership.

[10/08/25 - 08:39 AM]
Video: "40 Acres" - Trailer - Hulu
After a series of plagues and wars leaves society in ruins, the Freemans are surviving - even thriving - on a farm in the middle of nowhere... so long as they repel the occasional raiding party.

[10/08/25 - 08:31 AM]
Video: "Train Dreams" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Based on the novella of the same name, "Train Dreams" is the portrait of Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly changing America of the early 20th Century.

[10/08/25 - 08:01 AM]
Video: Date, Key Art, Trailer Debut - Hulu Original Series "All's Fair" (Premieres November 4th)
The series stars Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor, Matthew Noszka with Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close.

[10/08/25 - 08:01 AM]
Apple TV+ Announces Season Three for Celebrated Drama "The Buccaneers"
"We couldn't be more delighted to be lacing up our corsets, slipping on our ball gowns and running breathless across the cliffs of Tintagel for the third time to see what passionate adventures our beloved Buccaneers get up to next," said series creator Katherine Jakeways.

[10/08/25 - 08:00 AM]
MGM+ Acquires Rights to AGC Television's "Vanished" Starring Kaley Cuoco for February 2026 Premiere
The mystery thriller series directed by Barnaby Thompson also stars Sam Claflin, Karin Viard and Matthias Schweighöfer.

[10/08/25 - 07:31 AM]
Video: "Six Kings Slam" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Six of the world's greatest men's tennis players battle it out in Riyadh for the crown to rule the court.