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Flaco the Owl documentary to host free premiere in Central Park
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published May 29, 2026
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Benny Polatseck, courtesy of Sandbox Films.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published May 29, 2026
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“Wild Inside,” a new documentary about Flaco the owl, is having a free world premiere screening in Central Park this July 29.
Flaco, an enormous Eurasian eagle-owl, famously broke out of the Central Park Zoo in February 2023, after a still unknown vandal damaged his mesh enclosure.
A subsequent owl-hunt was unsuccessful, and Flaco soon became a beloved icon of self-reliance, living in the wilds of New York City, only to fall prey to rat poison and pigeon herpes a year after his escape.
He’s since been memorialized in multiple books, an exhibition, tattoos, untold quantities of Flaco-branded merch, and now a documentary by the director Penny Lane. A trailer for it was released on Wednesday.
In a phone interview with Gothamist last year, Lane said the film would attempt to capture Flaco’s whole year on the lamb carefully, “and then also investigate what happened before he was [in New York], learn about his family tree, learn about zoo ethics, learn about Eurasian eagle-owls, so it’s not just the story of Flaco, but the story of all the different questions and avenues that his story opened up.”
After its Central Park screening, “Wild Inside” will then open at Manhattan’s IFC Center on July 31 and play at select theaters nationwide, including showings on International Owl Awareness Day on Aug. 4.
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Hannah Frishberg
Hannah Frishberg covers New York City arts and culture. Got a tip? Email Hannah at [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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