Police Beat filmmakers to make doc on "Enumclaw Horse Case"

When last we spoke to Charles Mudede and Robinson Devor, they were promoting their film Police Beat on the festival circuit, and hadn't yet decided what they might tackle next. Well, now we know: the writer/director duo have decided to target the infamous "Enumclaw Horse Case", better known here in Seattle as "that guy who died after having sex with a horse".

Background: One night, the bloody body of an unknown, middle-aged man was found dumped unceremoniously behind the Enumclaw Medical Center. Security cameras recorded two men dumping the lifeless body from a truck, which police later traced to an Enunclaw farm; futher investigation revealed the farm had been a haven for Seattle residents having sex with horses and other barnyard creatures.

Mudede and Devor aren't out to lampoon the unfortunate man, who died of a perforated colon, apparently after a sexual encounter with an Arabian stallion he had purchased and was boarding at the farm. According to the press release, the filmmakers, rather than going for sensationalism and cheap humor, intend to humanize the deceased man, in a documentary titled In the Forest There is Every Kind of Bird, blending reporting of the crime with philosophical questioning about the motives and desires which drove this married father and engineer to pursue carnal relations with a stallion.

I don't know about you, but I'm really interested to see how well Mudede and Devor accomplish this laudable goal. Making a serious, thoughtful and reflective documentary about a farm where people (apparently quite a few of them) went to have sex with animals, and one man who died after a sexual encounter there, is going to be a lofty challenge. They made a nice film with Police Beat, though, and Mudede has a reputation for handling bizarre crime stories with deft sensitivity, even when he makes fun of them, so we'll see.

My favorite line from the press release was this one: "And what about the horse – its history, its relationships, its desires (horses, like humans, have desires)." Well, sure. I guess I'd never thought about the horse and how it might feel about all this.

What do you think of the idea? A documentary about a man who died having sex with a horse? Yay, or, well... neigh?