"In my lifetime I have been both the oppressor and the oppressed, both the fomenter of discord and the advocate for peace, both the perpetrator and the victim. But most significantly, I have been both the silence and the voice. It is the human voice that is the primary tool for change."
—Eddie Lama

How does a construction contractor from a tough Brooklyn neighborhood become an impassioned animal advocate?

In the award-winning documentary THE WITNESS, Eddie Lama explains how he feared and avoided animals for most of his life, until the love of a kitten opened his heart, inspiring him to rescue abandoned animals and bring his message of compassion to the streets of New York.

With humor and sincerity, Eddie tells the story of his remarkable change in consciousness.

"THE WITNESS is one man’s truth that cries out for mass exposure… may be the most important and persuasive film about animals ever made.”

--Howard Rosenberg,

Los Angeles Times

Full review (pdf)

THE WITNESS has been an official selection in 31 film festivals and received ten awards, including eight Best Documentary awards, a Best Short Film award, and a Best of Festival award.

The documentary has also been broadcast as part of the independent film showcases of several regional PBS stations, and via satellite on Link TV and Free Speech TV.

THE WITNESS has received extraordinary support from everyday people, who have thus far organized several hundred community screenings in nearly every U.S. state and all over the world, in venues ranging from libraries and churches to college campuses and movie theatres, often with theatre owners donating the space for the events.

With the help of caring people who wanted to bring THE WITNESS to the international community, Tribe of Heart has released foreign-language versions of The Witness in Spanish, French, German, Czech, Japanese, and Swedish.