The Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, which attracts hundreds of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, religious and secular visitors alike, seeks to inspire compassion through captive animals that serve as "ambassadors" for the natural world. The zoo's staff recognize that the institution is a moral compromise and struggle with visitors' indifference. The story unfolds through Shalom the rhinoceros and his two caretakers: Rushdi, a Palestinian-Israeli Muslim, and Gilad, a Jewish Israeli. Their disagreement over whether Shalom should be euthanized exposes the differences between them, while the war that erupts in Gaza after October 7 sharpens the film's central questions: What is captivity? What is freedom? And why is peaceful coexistence our only choice?
