A documentary not about the former president of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, but about his parrot, Koki, very talkative at the age of 67. The film brings together fragments of moments and images in which Koki appears and speaks, including state visits with figures such as Khrushchev or Indira Gandhi.
In the beautiful essay Why Look at Animals?, John Berger argues that animals have been expelled from their mythical and symbolic universe over time, becoming mere marginal presences in our lives. Koki, the speaking cockatoo of Josip Broz Tito, leader of Yugoslavia, may be proof that animals still have, and should have, a central role in human history, more than just being their “pets.” Brilliant in introducing the narration of the bird itself, Quenton Miller’s short film also becomes highly political by giving a voice to those other beings who, just like us, also shape the most significant moments of the world, even if they seem to only be in the background. (Pedro Gonçalves Ribeiro)
