Vegan stars Joaquin Phoenix, Sia and Rooney Mara lift the lid on animal exploitation

What do you get when you let drones fly in stealth mode?

In Dominion, you get a critical look at the severe effects humans have on wildlife. If you have been bouncing around Netflix, or are an avid vegan or activist, you will probably have already heard of the world-renowned documentary Earthlings. Its creators, along with award-winning director Chris Delforce, delve deep into the seamy story of animal exploitation.

The documentary is part of a bigger initiative – the online Aussie Farms Repository and Dominion Movement campaigns – which saw a Dominion Animal Rights March in Melbourne to coincide with the film’s premiere. That march alone brought out over 3,000 demonstrators.

Delforce says, “Through this film I challenge both the notion that animals are inferior, and that we as humans have the right to use and treat them as we please for our own ends – and I briefly examine how this superiority complex has, and continues to, complement some of humanity’s darkest ideologies, asking viewers to consider the similarities between racism, sexism and species-ism.”

Narrated by a stellar cast that includes Sia, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Kat Von D, and Sadie Sink of Stranger Things, the film has already ruffled some feathers with its no-holds-barred unmasking of the agricultural industry with footage of ill treatment in animal farming as well animal abuse in the fashion and entertainment industries.

The film premieres in Hong Kong on September 8 at Hong Kong University as part of the university’s core course “Some We Love, Some We Eat: Human-Animal Relationships in the Global Marketplace”.