A DOCUMENTARY about world-renowned primatologist and Bournemouth resident Dr Jane Goodall has had its premiere on both sides of the Atlantic.

The film, Jane, made its debut in front of 15,000 people in Los Angeles, before its first UK showing at the BFI London Film Festival.

Dr Goodall, 83, grew up in Bournemouth with her sister, Judy, and spent much of her childhood exploring the town, where she worked as a waitress to fund her first boat fare to Africa so she could begin her exploration.

Throughout her career, Jane made many revolutionary discoveries in her research, dispelling the myth that chimpanzees were vegetarians when she observed them eating meat.

Following that, she also proved that humans were not the only mammals to use tools after she saw the chimpanzees fashioning tools and using them to extract termites for consumption in 1961.

The director of the documentary, Brett Morgan, described the National Geographic-produced piece as “a love story between a woman and her vocation”.

The 90-minute film was created from approximately 100 hours of unseen, archived footage shot by her late ex-husband, Hugo Van Lawick detailing her fieldwork, and the relationships Jane had with both her husband and the animals of which she studied.

Tim Pastore, president of original programming and production at National geographic, said: “When this footage was pulled from our archives, we couldn’t think of anyone better suited to transform this classic National Geographic material of Dr. Goodall into a modern-day masterpiece.”

The film has a music score by world-renowned composer Philip Glass.

The documentary premiered on Monday October 9 at the famed Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles where 15,000 filled the venue to see the documentary.

Dr Goodall’s environmental campaigning means she spends much of the year on the road, speaking in venues across the globe about the threats faced by chimpanzees. She spends the remainder of the year at the West Cliff home where she grew up. Her family there know her fondly as “Gaj”, short for Great Aunt Jane.

Jane is to be released in the UK on November 24.