This disturbing documentary from the acclaimed director of Man on a Wire shows what happens when a group of social scientists decides to perform an experiment on an unsuspecting baby chimpanzee and raise him in a glitzy Upper West Side home just li

Covering 26 years, this unforgettable animal biopic begins in 1973 with Columbia Professor Herbert Terrace's profoundly misguided idea to bring up a chimpanzee in an exclusively human environment. Little Nim is torn from his screaming mother’s arms and sent to live with an attractive hippie psychologist who dresses him in human clothes, teaches him sign language and attempts to socialize him. In some ways he is just like her own kids; but on a deeper level, of course, he is not. Eventually Nim grows up, becomes less adorable and gets passed around to a number of surrogate families, none of whom have the slightest notion how to deal with his needs. What starts out as a goofy experiment ultimately becomes far more troubling. Anyone who cares about the welfare of animals will certainly be moved by this cautionary tale which was the Opening Night film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. -- Jennifer Steinberg