Synopsis

The year is 1970 and it's a typical school day for twelve-year-old Eric, but Eric is not a typical boy. With hearing aids, a giant pair of glasses and the status of 'outcast', he's a perpetual loner at the back of the class at a school for the hearing.

His escape? Drawing Tarzan and Jane cartoons - inspired by his crush, Lizzie. But when the day's lesson turns to Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest, Eric's attention shifts. Is he the weak gazelle in the science video... the one that dies in the jaws of the lion? Brad the bully thinks so, and he's about to let Eric know it. As class ends, Lizzie slips a note into Erics hand, and Eric realizes he has some choices to make. Armed with his Tarzan drawings, Eric prepares to face Brad and win Lizzie's heart. But first he must decide: is he a lion, a gazelle, or the king of the jungle?

This is a coming of age tale about what it means to be the 'fittest.' Along the way. Eric will grapple with the notion of his hearing aids and glasses being weaknesses, but when faced with a decision to finally stand up to his bully - a fight or flight moment - he realizes there's more to natural selection than survival. He finally rises above the

eat-or-be-eaten playing field set by Brad when he discovers that Brad is probably being abused. As a result of his choice, he wins Lizzie's heart and finally becomes the Tarzan he's always dreamed of being.

Filmed entirely from Eric's sound perspective, this story is about empathy. It casts an authentic light on what it takes to navigate the world as an outsider, showing us that survival of the fittest is ultimately more about choice than ability.