Venice: ‘Aquarela’ Director Victor Kossakovsky Follows Up with ‘Krogufant’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Elsa Keslassy

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Victor Kossakovsky, whose high-profile ecological documentary “Aquarela” was made with Participant Media and is world premiering at Venice, is currently shooting “Krogufant,” a documentary conveying the emotional intelligence of cows, pigs and chicken.

“‘Krogufant’ will only show animals living and interacting with each others — no humans, no slaughter are part of it,” said the Russian filmmaker, whose previous credits include “¡Vivan las antípodas!,” “Tishe!” and “Belovy.” “What you will see is how intelligent, caring, empathetic and clever these animals are, and how wrong we are to assume that they’re stupid and only worthy to be consumed,” said Kossakovsky.

The helmer is working on “Krogufant” with Norwegian producer Anita Rehoff Larsen at Sant & Usant. The pair previously worked together on the documentary “Varicella.”

Kossakovsky said he has been shooting “Krogufant” in Norway, Spain and the U.K. and spent about two months with each group of animals to capture their daily lives, see them grow up and get a sense of their psychology and behavior.

“‘Aquarela’ and ‘Krogufant’ are connected because both films show that we have a wrong understanding of our place on this planet,” said Kossakovsky. “We think everything belongs to us, that animals are our slaves which we can kill to eat, that we can change the direction of rivers and cut trees, but what I hope to achieve is to show that humans are only part of this planet.”

A documentary about the beauty and power of water, “Aquarela” was shot at a rare 96-frames-per-second across Russia’s Lake Baikal and Venezuela’s mighty Angels Falls, and includes footage of 2017’s destructive Hurricane Irma, which hit the Florida and other U.S. states. “Aquarela” also boasts Dolby Surround Sound. “We made this film with the hope to attract large crowds in theaters. We want it to be a blockbuster featuring water as a wonderful, multi-faceted star,” said Kossakovsky.

, which is selling “Aquarela,” has inked a deal with Endeavor and Lionsgate to handle U.S. and international sales.