Chimps of Fongoli + Ape to Ape

The Chimps of Fongoli 

The Chimps of Fongoli is the story of a remarkable group of chimpanzees in Senegal, West Africa. They live at the very limits of where chimps can survive. As they adapt to the extreme heat of the savanna south of the Sahara Desert, they could hold clues to how we became human. For years, these chimps were elusive ghosts, rarely seen. But then one team and one man changed everything – seeing into their secret lives and recording extraordinary new behaviors that shine a light on our own evolutionary past and fundamentally changing how we think about ourselves.

Ape to Ape
Strong leaders control their emotions. Right? In this cinematic experiment, chimpanzees and science prove filmmaker Meike Schaapveld the opposite. What if vulnerability is in fact her greatest strength for connection? Meike wants to appear as a strong leader by learning to control her visible emotions. Together with cognitive psychologist Mariska Kret, she dives into the evolutionary origins of emotions and leadership. This leads her to chimpanzees, whose alpha behavior sheds new light on our ideas about power, vulnerability, empathy, and how these are naturally connected.

Presented as a letter to the world-famous primatologist Frans de Waal, who passed away in 2024, this film reveals the age-old and vital social bond between humans and great apes. What can chimpanzees teach us about leadership and relationships – and about ourselves?