Ivo

Africa is home to around 100,000 gorillas. According to some estimates, within a few decades they will all be extinct, and this makes gorillas in captivity all the more precious. In Europe, some 185 males and 245 females currently live in zoos, and 19-year-old Ivo is one of them. Born in captivity in Munich but rejected by his mother, a female caretaker bottle-fed him for the first three months. He was later transferred to Tenerife, then to Amsterdam, and he has been at the Berlin Zoo since 2005. There, Ivo has built up quite a following of human admirers. Women such as Brigitte and Angela are faithful fans of the silverback, as were Liesbeth and Anneke during his stay in Amsterdam. The ladies have a bond with the gorilla, who gives them kisses from behind the glass. Unfortunately, Ivo has had less success among the lady apes - to the dismay of Reimon Opitz, head caretaker at the Berlin Zoo, he has not yet managed to find a mate and produce offspring. Through conversations with the people who care for him and visit him, director Annick van Wijk reconstructs the story of Ivo's life in this "unauthorised" biography.