Indigo: Joaquin Phoenix Film Rescues Animals From Slaughterhouses & Calls On Us To Rethink Our Food Choices

Puerto Rican-American actor, producer, animal rights activist, and environmentalist Joaquin Phoenix has released a short documentary titled ‘Indigo’, which showcases his experience rescuing animals from slaughterhouses along with the non-profit Animal Save.

The day after Joaquin Phoenix won his Academy Award for best actor and made an Oscars speech that went viral, he joined Los Angeles-based NGO Animal Save, which conducts vigils at slaughterhouses where they provide water and care to sick animals. The organisation hopes that by inviting people to visit these factories, they can help expose the cruel truth behind the animal agriculture industry.

Through Animal Save, Phoenix helped rescue a mother cow and her young calf from a slaughterhouse in L.A. that he named them ‘Liberty’ and ‘Indigo’, after his sister and nephew. Witnessing the brutal torture of these animals first-hand, Phoenix decided to share this story with the whole world and together with director Shaun Monson, who was behind 2005’s Earthlings, produced ‘Indigo’.

Phoenix does not sugar coat the facts in the film: he speaks truthfully about the entire rescue mission, what actually goes on behind these slaughterhouses and the real cost of the food we have on our plates every day.

In a statement seen by Green Queen, Phoenix said that nothing good is happening by dedicating one day each year paying respect to our planet and spending the remaining 364 days, consuming “impunity”. “It’s undeniable the detrimental impact that animal agriculture has on the environment. This simple act of rescuing Liberty and Indigo, in some ways, it’s just as simple as sparing the lives of these creatures. But it’s also an acknowledgment of not only the destruction they feel at our hands but the environment as a whole. By our actions, we either have the choice to continue to destroy other beings and the environment, or we begin the process of reversing the damage that we’ve done.”

This simple act of rescuing Liberty and Indigo, in some ways, it’s just as simple as sparing the lives of these creatures. But it’s also an acknowledgment of not only the destruction they feel at our hands but the environment as a whole

Joaquin Phoenix, actor and animal rights activist

In a heartwarming reunion, Phoenix visits the cows at their new sanctuary home, and the documentary ends with some hard-hitting facts about worldwide meat consumption and its devastating impact on the planet.

According to the film, “meat production is estimated to ‘double’ by 2050. This is a vast increase on the already 80 billion animals currently slaughtered every year. Climate change is imminent if we do not adopt a plant-based lifestyle”.

It’s undeniable the detrimental impact that animal agriculture has on the environment. By our actions, we either have the choice to continue to destroy other beings and the environment, or we begin the process of reversing the damage that we’ve done

Joaquin Phoenix, actor and animal rights activist

For his rescue efforts, Phoenix received a PETA award for the ‘Most Inspiring Act Of Kindness To Animals’.

A vegan since the age of three, Phoenix has always fought and showed his support for animal rights, for instance, with his foreword in the recently published photobook – Hidden: Animals in the Anthropocene, which shares around 200 images from photojournalists around the world depicting the horrendous abuse, torture and exploitation that animals face in slaughterhouses and other fashion and food farms around the world.

In addition, Phoenix who produced the 2019 documentary The Animal People, recently announced that along with actress and wife Rooney Mara, will be producing a new documentary titled The End of Medicine to draw the world’s attention to the connection between animal agriculture and zoonotic diseases along with Keegan Kuhn, who is behind the documentary Cowspiracy and will delve into scientific evidence that highlights this link and how ultimately we are destroying the natural world with our continued food choices.

Phoenix was one of the people behind the plant-based menu at the 2020 Golden Globes, and at during his winning 2020 Oscars speech, Phoenix took the opportunity to address the Hollywood fraternity and the whole world about why animal rights matter and how our ignorance of the atrocities happening to animals in the dairy industry is destroying not only our present world but also threatening our existence.

Lead image courtesy of Indigo.