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Project Nim

2011·Documentary·1h 33m
7.1
★
From the team behind Man on Wire comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim's extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature - and indeed our own - is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.
Directed by James Marsh
1970s
love of animals
chimpanzee
wild animal
linguistics
animal behaviour
YouTube
Trailer
IMDB
IMDB
N/A

Cast

Bob Angelini
Bob Angelini
Lab Tech
Bern Cohen
Bern Cohen
Dr. William Lemmon
Reagan Leonard
Reagan Leonard
Stephanie LaFarge
Scarlett Bermingham
Scarlett Bermingham
Laura-Ann Petitto: re-enactment unit

Crew

James Marsh
James Marsh
Director
Dickon Hinchliffe
Dickon Hinchliffe
Original Music Composer
Michael Simmonds
Michael Simmonds
Director of Photography
Simon Chinn
Simon Chinn
Producer
John Battsek
John Battsek
Executive Producer
Nancy Abraham
Nancy Abraham
Producer
Sheila Nevins
Sheila Nevins
Executive Producer
Kinda Akash
Kinda Akash
Graphic Designer
Kinda Akash
Kinda Akash
Title Designer
Jamund Washington
Jamund Washington
First Assistant Director
Dickon Hinchliffe
Dickon Hinchliffe
Music Arranger

Popular Reviews

26 reviews
Cold fish
Cold fish
8.0★ · 03/28/26
Project Nim
Twisted on so many levels 😭
Twisted on so many levels 😭
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Carson Vierich
Carson Vierich
Project Nim
Ok I never finished it because I missed the next class but I started watching this for psych
WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING GIVING ALCOHOL AND WEED TO LIKE A BABY CHIMP
Documentary is good but the research itself is so poorly designed. The amount of confounding variables is crazy
Ok I never finished it because I missed the next class but I started watching this for psych
WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING GIVING ALCOHOL AND WEED TO LIKE A BABY CHIMP
Documentary is good but the research itself is so poorly designed. The amount of confounding variables is crazy
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IsaiahWFilms
IsaiahWFilms
8.0★ · 08/19/25
Project Nim
First things first, I’ve always loved apes and monkeys when I was young I wanted them as pets (obviously not anymore) but they remain my favorite animals all this to say this is just wrong and people are retarded, also some of these mfs are just weirdos like that one lady that wanted to know how Nim jerked off like wtf and herb with no question asked just blurting “She was 18 at the time” like he’s trying to cover his tracks wtf but yeah this people are dumbasses and I feel like they didn’t go into enough detail of how Nim was actually treated and what this documentary showed is all ik about Nim, ik a lot of this negative but it’s good
First things first, I’ve always loved apes and monkeys when I was young I wanted them as pets (obviously not anymore) but they remain my favorite animals all this to say this is just wrong and people are retarded, also some of these mfs are just weirdos like that one lady that wanted to know how Nim jerked off like wtf and herb with no question asked just blurting “She was 18 at the time” like he’s trying to cover his tracks wtf but yeah this people are dumbasses and I feel like they didn’t go into enough detail of how Nim was actually treated and what this documentary showed is all ik about Nim, ik a lot of this negative but it’s good
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SeagullSensei
SeagullSenseiPRO
7.0★ · 05/23/25
Project Nim
3rd Annual Monkey May #16:

I would usually have something funny to say, but everyone involved with this poor chimp aside from Bob are absolute monsters and it’s a tragedy Nim’s life turned out this way. Infuriating.
3rd Annual Monkey May #16:

I would usually have something funny to say, but everyone involved with this poor chimp aside from Bob are absolute monsters and it’s a tragedy Nim’s life turned out this way. Infuriating.
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Liv
Liv
Project Nim
Get Stephanie out of here what a freak
Get Stephanie out of here what a freak
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