Researchers at Stanford University conducted a decades-long experiment wherein Koko, a female gorilla, was taught American Sign Language. The findings and the ethics of this experiment were then (and remain today) controversial. Director Barbet Schroeder captures intimate footage of Koko, scholars, and her caretakers, leaving the viewer to be charmed by Koko and come to their own conclusions about whether a gorilla can and should be taught how to converse at a high level with humans.

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If you'd like to watch ahead for next week's film, we will be discussing and reviewing Arthur Crabtree's Fiend Without A Face (1958).