{"id":13949,"date":"2016-10-27T08:39:34","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T16:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&p=13949"},"modified":"2021-08-06T09:38:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T16:38:52","slug":"cats-of-documentaries","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/cats-of-documentaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Cats of Documentaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.\u201d\u2014Filmmaker Jean Cocteau (<\/em>Orpheus; Beauty and the Beast)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

International Cat Day is August 8 and National Cat Day<\/a> is October 29, days designed to both honor our feline friends and lend support to cats in need. There are an estimated 74 million pet cats in the United States, in 36 million households, so odds are many of you reading this have a cat in your home or a family member’s house, and we also know you are documentary fans. In honor of this special day, and as both a cat and film lover myself, I wanted to combine those two things together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are of course a number of good, solid nature documentaries about our wily feline friends (including National Geographic’s excellent\u00a0<\/span>Cats: Caressing the Tiger <\/i>and\u00a0<\/span>The Secret Life of Cats<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>and for those in the U.K., the Joanna Lumley-hosted\u00a0The Wonderful World of Cats<\/em><\/span>) but for these Cat Days I wanted to take a look at some of the more interesting, unique docs that aren’t necessarily cat-centered<\/em> but in which, whether they are a directly part of the story or not, house cats are given their proper due as an emotional presence in the lives of many (from artists to urbanites). \u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\"Jimmy\n

Cats of Mirikitani<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

The cats in the title of this incredibly moving, award-winning film\u00a0are in the artwork of 80-year-old artist <\/span>Jimmy Mirikitani. He was found living on the streets of New York, and after 9\/11 was taken in to live with filmmaker Linda Hattendorf, who helped him to reacclimate himself and eventually reconnect with family. We learn more about the Japanese-born artist’s epic past: despite holding a dual citizenship (born in California but raised in Japan), Mirikitani was forced in WWII to spend several years in an internment camp that claimed hundreds of lives, including that of a young friend he’s never forgotten and who shared his love of cats.<\/span><\/p>\n