SYLVIO (2017)

Availability: Rent/Buy on Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube, Blu-Ray via Vinegar Syndrome. Runtime: 80 minutes. Format: HD Digital. Distributed by Music Box Selects.

Sylvio the gorilla's droll 9 to 5 is interrupted when he is sent to collect the debt of a local talk show host and finds himself on live TV. The human viewers love Sylvio's accidentally chaotic and destructive ape persona, which is diametrically opposed to the gentle image Sylvio has fought to embody. Sylvio is a tender cult classic that speaks to anyone who fails to live out their stereotype. Directed by Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley. Produced by Meghan Doherty.

Film Festivals: SXSW Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, Capital City Film Fest, IFF Boston, Maryland Film Festival, Greenwich Intl FF, Homebrewed (Colombia, MO), What the Film Festival (Toronto), Revelation Perth IFF, Indy Film Fest (Indianapolis), Funcinema (Argentina), Charlotte FF, AmFest (Moscow), New Hampshire FF, Nitehawk Cinema (week run), Eastern Oregon FF, Syracuse Intl FF, American FF (Poland), Roxy Cinema (NYC), Indie Memphis FF, Loft Film Fest (Tucson), Unknown Pleasures FF, Mammoth Film Festival (Mammoth Lakes, CA), Flatpack Film Festival (Birmingham, UK).

Praise for the film:

  • 85% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

  • "One of the 10 Best Movies of 2017" -The New Yorker

  • “This charming lo-fi indie is attuned to its own eccentric wavelength, equal parts absurd and poignant. A cult following for this bizarro effort seems quite possible." -Variety

  • "Exquisite yet uproarious. Sylvio is, at heart, a tale of independent artistry and its snares. The result is a generous, achingly tender comedy. -New Yorker and here.

  • "A work of gentle whimsy and surprising pathos. Birney and Audley have an impressive visual sense — the smart framing and thrifty, ingenious production design at times suggest a Wes Anderson–directed installment of Between Two Ferns." -Village Voice 

  • "Sylvio is an ideal vessel for silent comedy, and the filmmakers’ attention to detail allow the punchline of his very existence to merge nicely with sad, elegant lifestyle. Norman Rockwell by way of Pee Wee Herman." -Indiewire

  • "The jokes are consistently inventive and the counteracting pathos on point." -Hollywood Reporter

  • "It's a hilarious and touching examination of our search for fulfillment and one of those weird little movies that is worth seeking out." -Screen Anarchy

  • "Sylvio gave me belly laughs and evocative feels. Thus far, it is my favorite film of the year." Score 5/5. -Film Threat

  • "Surprisingly soulful for an ape who doesn’t speak. A thoughtful, well-realized film." -Assholes Watching Movies

  • "Rich with ingenious sight gags and clever, deadpan writing." -Austin Chronicle

  • "Sylvio is a small movie with big ideas. It has a modest budget, but the design of the movie is immense. The production design and music are inspired. Its heart is brimming, bursting. Sylvio is funny without being desperate for laughs. It’s charming without being cloying. And it’s so cinematic, with its accomplished dolly shots and beautifully composed frames. There’s so much life and creativity and passion in this movie. It is magical. And for a cynic like me, it was cathartic. It makes me want to be kinder, gentler. It makes me want to breathe. Relax." -Talkhouse

  • "Who knew that a film about a shades-bedecked gorilla possessed of a deep, abiding love of hand puppetry could be so moving? Sylvio reads as silly on paper and is only slightly less silly in practice, but that silliness gains degrees of profound absurdist gravity from the cast’s straight-faced approach to the material. Movies about the clash between aesthetic ambition and commercial enterprise rarely feel as warm as Sylvio does." -Paste Magazine.

  • "My favorite of the films I’ve been able to catch in advance is “Sylvio,” the improbably moving tale of a cubicle drone at a debt collection agency who dreams of someday being a puppeteer. Spun off from the wildly popular “Simply Sylvio” vine series, this beguiling feature from directors Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley mines extraordinary whimsy and pathos from the sight of a man in a cheap gorilla suit wearing people clothes and sunglasses." -WBUR NPR.

  • "It’s a film about the face we see when we look in the mirror, versus the face we make when we know we are being watched." -CinemaThread

  • "Perfectly composed frames Wes Anderson would approve of. The deadpan humor has a degree of intentional, Tim & Eric-styled awkwardness." -Ars Technica

  • "It’s a testament to the ingenuity and creativity of Birney and Audley that this quirky low-budget comedy is able to break through and resonate. There’s a marvelous sense of wonder in every scene that finds you rooting for this ordinary gorilla." -Austin 360