DOC - Happy in the Bronx
Documentary Short
Title: Happy in the Bronx
Project Status: In Post Production
Logline
Is Happy, happy? Called the loneliest elephant in the world, Happy is a 54 year old Asian elephant who has lived at the Bronx Zoo for 47 years, 17 in solitary confinement. Happy’s team of attorneys, asked the courts for her release to a Tennessee sanctuary; after their appeal was unsuccessful, a NYC council member and animal rights activists have taken up her cause.
Synopsis
HAPPY IN THE BRONX tells the story of Happy, a Bronx Zoo elephant held in captivity for 47 years and cruelly moved from exhibit to exhibit across the US. The film follows the extraordinary legal battle for Happy’s freedom, which also spotlights the question: ‘What living, sentient beings deserve humane treatment under the American legal system?’
Happy in the Bronx is a short documentary that will tell the story of Happy, an elephant at the Bronx Zoo, and the legal case to change the physical, and perhaps emotional circumstances of her life.
Known as one of America’s loneliest elephants, Happy has been forced to live in solitude for the last 17 years.
In nature, elephants live in bonded matriarchal families. Females never leave the herd, forming lifelong attachments with their mothers. siblings, cousins and aunts
After reading an article about Happy’s legal case, I attended the hearing in February 2020 at Bronx Supreme Court.
Attorney’s from the Nonhuman Rights Project argued for recognition of their client’s legal personhood, right to liberty and equality, and release to a Tennessee sanctuary.
Like all nonhuman animals, Happy is considered a thing in the eyes of the law, with no fundamental rights, according to Nonhuman Rights Project attorney Steven Wise.
The case progressed to New York’s highest court, the New York State Court of Appeals in Albany.
Though the attorneys did not prevail on Happy’s behalf, this case tested the boundaries of applying human rights to animals.
Two judges wrote strongly worded minority opinions which referenced an African man, Ota Benga. In 1906, he was exhibited at the Bronx Zoo next to the primates.
Judges Wilson and Rivera wrote courageous dissents in Happy’s case that link “our country’s tortured history of oppression and subjugation” of humans based on characteristics such as race, gender, culture, national origin, and citizenship to the suffering and rightlessness of nonhuman animals."
Through personal narrative woven in with the voices of those who fought for Happy’s release in court, HAPPY IN THE BRONX takes audiences heartwarming journey of activism.and the passionate activists advocating on her behalf.
Additional Project Info
I was awarded a New York State Council for the Arts grant in 2025 for "Happy in the Bronx"
I received several Brooklyn Arts Council grants; an application for funding in 2026 is pending notification.
Additional funding includes the Puffin Foundation, and a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.
Team
Nancy Siesel, Director, Producer, Cinematographer
Dhevi Natarajan, Editor
Seeking
Producing Partners, Distribution, Online Distribution
Rights Available
All rights available
Contact
Nancy Siesel
nansie718@gmail.com