Nuts!

“And did it work?” Film director Penny Lane is frequently asked this question when she talks about “Nuts!” – and yet the life of John R. Brinkley that she portrays in her documentary film contains much more adventure and pioneering spirit than just his attempts at transplanting goat testicles to cure male impotency. In 1918 Brinkley opened a clinic in Milford (Kansas) when a despairing patient gave him the idea of counteracting his impotence with a goat’s reproductive organs. Brinkley ventures to do the operation for 150 dollars and thus begins his career that is just as promising as it is eclectic: add to his work in medicine his own radio station in 1923, even though the radio had hardly been developed, and political ambitions stemming from his increasing fame. Questions arising from the scenes and creative phases of his life run through the film like a common thread: How far can medicine go, how far can the human being go? Does a pioneer have to abide by the law and take ethics into consideration – or is it precisely the contrary that distinguishes him? And, naturally: Did it work? Such an extraordinary life story requires a unique narrative form. Based on a biography of John R. Brinkley, Penny Lane has created a fascinating filmic collage with “Nuts!” using hand-drawn animated re-enactments, interviews with historians and archival footage from the operating room. It took Penny Lane almost eight years to complete the film that won her the Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing at the prestigious Sundance Festival 2016. Along with the acclaim from juries at international film festivals and critics was also the hope that the film carries and radiates from the screen: May the world be a bit more absurd than it appears in everyday life.

Voices: Gene Tognacci, Andy Boswell, John Causby, Kelly Mizell