Flaco the Owl documentary to host free premiere in Central Park

A documentary titled “Wild Inside” will have a free world premiere screening in Central Park on July 29. The film centers on Flaco, an enormous Eurasian eagle-owl that escaped the Central Park Zoo in February 2023 after his mesh enclosure was damaged by an unknown vandal. An attempted owl hunt failed, and Flaco survived in New York City’s wild spaces, becoming widely beloved for his self-reliance. He later died about a year after his escape from rat poison and pigeon herpes. Flaco has since been memorialized through books, an exhibition, tattoos, and merchandise, and the documentary aims to cover his full year while also examining what led to his arrival, his family background, zoo ethics, and Eurasian eagle-owls. After the Central Park screening, the film will open at IFC Center on July 31 and play select theaters nationwide, including Aug. 4 showings for International Owl Awareness Day.

"“Wild Inside,” a new documentary about Flaco the owl, is having a free world premiere screening in Central Park this July 29. Flaco, an enormous Eurasian eagle-owl, famously broke out of the Central Park Zoo in February 2023, after a still unknown vandal damaged his mesh enclosure."

"A subsequent owl-hunt was unsuccessful, and Flaco soon became a beloved icon of self-reliance, living in the wilds of New York City, only to fall prey to rat poison and pigeon herpes a year after his escape. He's since been memorialized in multiple books, an exhibition, tattoos, untold quantities of Flaco-branded merch, and now a documentary by the director Penny Lane."

"In a phone interview with Gothamist last year, Lane said the film would attempt to capture Flaco's whole year on the lamb carefully, “and then also investigate what happened before he was [in New York], learn about his family tree, learn about zoo ethics, learn about Eurasian eagle-owls, so it's not just the story of Flaco, but the story of all the different questions and avenues that his story opened up.”"

"After its Central Park screening, “Wild Inside” will then open at Manhattan's IFC Center on July 31 and play at select theaters nationwide, including showings on International Owl Awareness Day on Aug. 4."

Read at Gothamist