Before the outbreak of the first civil war, the Monrovia Zoo was a source of peaceful memories for families and children. Set on the banks of the Mesurado River in the forested backyard of an old Swiss man and his Liberian wife, it was the only zoo in Liberia. During the war soldiers came and shot dead all the animals. Afterwards they massacred everyone in the neighborhood. The Swiss man and his wife managed to escape to Sierra Leone, and in recent years have returned to their old home. Today the vacant remains of old cages are overgrown with vegetation. A few families live in the space where the zoo once was. In this sad forgotten Eden, a girl named Peculiar Greave sings as she does the laundry.
About Christopher Giamo
Chris Giamo is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and is currently completing his MA in Documentary Film and History at Syracuse University . He has a background in cultural anthropology, human rights, South Asian studies, and Hindi language. He recently completed a documentary on Kashmir, India which was shot during the summer of 2010. The film, In Shopian, covers the case of a double murder and documents the volatile socio-political upheaval in the capital of Srinagar. He has also conducted extensive fieldwork within Sikh diaspora communities in Canada and England. His film Black Days/Blue Star recounts the story of a Sikh refugee who escaped the Indian Army’s attack on the Golden Temple in June, 1984. Besides human rights documentaries, Chris has made a number of independent art films. He currently resides in an attic by the sea in Portland, Maine.
