{"id":15833,"date":"2017-08-24T13:58:45","date_gmt":"2017-08-24T21:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=15833"},"modified":"2023-08-15T16:52:15","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T23:52:15","slug":"dogumentary-now-7-docs-about-urban-dogs","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/dogumentary-now-7-docs-about-urban-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Dogumentary Now: 7 Docs About Urban Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just like the human population, dogs in the city can live a life of luxury or \u2014 sadly \u2014 roam the streets looking for food, shelter and the occasional kind touch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In honor of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Dog Day<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Aug. 26) and the waning dog days of summer, here are some documentaries that examine what life is like for city dogs, whether they live in New York, Prague, or Sydney, and whether they&#8217;re the dearest things in their human&#8217;s lives or have no one but themselves to rely on. Not all of these films are completely uplifting, but each is moving, memorable and full of great pups. <\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b><em>Heart of a Dog<\/em> (2015)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual artist and musician Laurie Anderson directed this thoughtful meditation about her late dog that&#8217;s also a tribute to the city of New York. She lived with her beloved rat terrier, Lolabelle, in the West Village, which has the highest density of dogs in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Terriers are very adaptable and sociable, so Lolabelle immediately fit right into the West Village. Within a week or two, she seemed to know everyone,&#8221; Anderson recalls over dog&#8217;s-eye-view footage of the sidewalks, people, and dogs of the Village. Of course, Lolabelle had her favorite shops and stores and made the rounds every week for a treat or a new toy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Lolabelle went blind, Anderson encouraged her to paint, sculpt and even create music.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The impressionistic film also focuses on how New York City changed after 9\/11, the rise of video surveillance, and how the Buddhist idea of the afterlife helped Anderson say farewell to Lolabelle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heart of a Dog<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2016 Independent Spirit Awards.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Laurie Anderson - Heart of a Dog [Official Trailer]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8PLWVXICQyM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><b><em>Still Life with Animated Dogs<\/em> (2002)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Filmmaker Paul Fierlinger (who also directed <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My Dog Tulip<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), recalls all the dogs he&#8217;s owned in this animated short<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The second part is set in Communist Prague of 1958, when he had a scruffy black terrier he rebelliously named &#8220;Roosevelt.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having a dog was considered &#8220;suspicious,&#8221; and Fierlinger says in voiceover, &#8220;Having a dog was one way to avoid conforming. With my dog and my beard, I made myself an easy target to be hated by the masses.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dogs were forbidden insides bars and restaurants, so Roosevelt would wait for his owner outside. Roosevelt somehow knew just the right moment to sneak in to join his human, yielding a powerful lesson: &#8220;When it comes to authority: Be sneaky and do everything under the table,&#8221; Fierlinger shares.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the third part, he recalls rambunctious Ike, who loved long walks and destroying loose posters on kiosks, proving to be an anarchist in his own right. Long before emotional support dogs were a thing, Fierlinger created a badge identifying him as a seeing-eye dog trainer who was certified to bring his dog with him anywhere, and &#8220;it worked like magic.&#8221; With dog food non-existent and meat scarce for even humans, the badge came in handy as he and Ike had access to &#8220;the choicest leftovers in Prague.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Having to take care of a dog made me hold onto the last trace of decency and self-worth in me,&#8221; he says of having Ike in the bleak days of Communist Prague.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the film is not just amusing anecdotes about dogs: When a chance to leave for the United States arises, Fierlinger sees no way to take Ike with him and euthanizes the dog, a heartbreaking decision he presents in a startlingly matter-of-fact and unemotional way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once in the U.S., he gets scrappy little Johnson, with whom he continues his tradition of walking without a leash. When Johnson gets hit by a car, Fierlinger animates that terrible episode as well, although, luckily, Johnson makes a full recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SLWAD - Still Life With Animated Dogs - 2001 - Opening Scene\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/139858146?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe>\n<p><b><em>Street Dogs of South Central<\/em> (2013)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Queen Latifah narrates this documentary about the street dogs of the South Central area of Los Angeles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The film follows Elsie, a Black Labrador mix, and her struggle to raise her puppies on the streets of Los Angeles. Despite the fact that the city of Los Angeles has a mandatory spay and neuter law, there are an estimated 30,000 stray dogs roaming the City of Angels. Filmmaker Bill Marin told PackPeople<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0that he believes that number has risen since he first began filming, all despite the city&#8217;s spay and neuter law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Producer Vince Ueber says, &#8220;It&#8217;s a problem in every city of America, so the figure [nationally] isn&#8217;t in the thousands, it&#8217;s in the millions.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i>Street Dogs of South Central<\/i> is an often grim watch that&#8217;s designed to bring awareness to the rising problem of pet overpopulation. Marin spent three years filming. &#8220;We got into my VW and every Saturday and Sunday morning at 5 a.m.,&#8221;he told Packpeople. &#8220;We went out to South Central and filmed every stray dog we could see.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding Elsie, who became their main character, was a stroke of luck. &#8220;One day we were filming and we saw this mom and these three tiny little puppies following her down the street. We followed her back to an abandoned house and there was another puppy waiting for them. We had no idea that that would become our story. They were around for a while, Elsie and two puppies lasted for almost five to six months out there and we were able to tell a complete story, the cycle of their life.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asked whether he was ever tempted to step in and save any of the dogs, he said, &#8220;It was a\u00a0tough call, because it was important to tell the story and we had to tell the full story. Elsie and her daughters were really healthy and they were surviving on the streets, so it wasn&#8217;t too difficult of a call because she was such a great mother and she was teaching everything they needed to know to survive.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But if he saw a dog struggling, he would call Animal Control, adding, &#8220;we were hesitant to do that, because we knew there was a chance they might get euthanized.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adds Marin, &#8220;We created this film to tell the story and it really shows people the truth of what&#8217;s going on,&#8221; and urges people to spay and neuter their dogs, and to adopt, not buy their pets.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"STREET DOGS OF SOUTH CENTRAL\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jjHIwoblf2c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><b><em>Napoli Dogs<\/em> (2005)\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you need a more upbeat take on street dogs than the one set in South Central, this dramatized &#8220;dogumentary&#8221; should do the trick. Writer-director Barbara Fally-Pusk\u00e1s follows a pack of dogs in Naples, Italy, focusing on newcomer Bartolo, who looks like an Australian Sheep Dog.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The film is &#8220;narrated&#8221; by the oldest dog, the &#8220;capo&#8221; of the pack, Gennaro, who somehow has a British accent. Among his pack: Jack Russell mix Malocchio, &#8220;the Evil Eye&#8221;; black lab Partenope, &#8220;Queen of Rubbish Bins&#8221;; and Leopardi, &#8220;The Thief on Silent Paws.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each dog has a different food gathering strategy when they hit the beach \u2014 one likes to eat the dried-up panini left out for the birds, another dances for food from tourists and two team up to knock over garbage bins. They also hit up their favorite shops \u2014 Malocchio loves to steal from the butcher while Bartolo knows he can count on the local pet store owner for a treat. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides the doggie voiceover, the film takes artistic license by inventing a backstory for our leading dog: Bartolo supposedly was thrown out of a happy home as a puppy for chewing on shoes. And his mother? A collie named Lassie. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There&#8217;s also romance: Bartolo follows a pretty Dalmatian and her owners back to their posh residence, and also moons over a pedigreed poodle in a sort of live-action <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lady and the Tramp<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kedi&#8217;<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s cat&#8217;s-eye view of Istanbul, we also get a good look at the people and city of Naples, making this as much a travelogue as a &#8220;dogumentary.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While lacking in verisimilitude (a dog trainer is credited), the film does boast beautiful cinematography and some highly photogenic dogs. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15851\" style=\"width: 1290px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15851\" class=\"wp-image-15851 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/napoli-dogs-street.jpg\" alt=\"From Napoli Dogs\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/napoli-dogs-street.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/napoli-dogs-street-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/napoli-dogs-street-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-15851\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From Napoli Dogs<\/p><\/div>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"I Cani di Napoli (Napoli Dogs)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fY95R7h4CdM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><em>Wonderful World of Dogs<\/em> (1990)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writer-director Mark Lewis (director of the cult documentary <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cane Toads: An Unnatural History<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), focuses on the colorful dogs in a suburb of Sydney, Australia in this entertaining BBC entry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bruce Marquette narrates as we see a pack of dogs gleeful tipping over garbage cans: &#8220;When dogs get together in a pack, they think, &#8216;I&#8217;m with my mates. This is our territory. And we strut. Because no one else is game to come around.'&#8221; He explains that the joy of being in a pack can lead them on jaunts of a mile or more in a day, much to the dismay of townsfolk who want to see dogs leashed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We also meet Fugly, a German shorthaired pointer who is Australia\u2019s most frequently impounded dog, because he&#8217;s always on the loose. Despite (or because) of his notoriety, he&#8217;s become something of a town mascot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And we&#8217;re treated to a dramatic re-enactment of a Chihuahua named Pebbles&#8217; alleged brush with death: She was nearly eaten by a pelican! Such are the apparent downsides of being a small dog living in Sydney.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where to Watch:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Kanopy\u00a0(free for students, professors, and members of public libraries)<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wonderful World of Dogs ad on TVO (1995)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ITn4Xdvb9kY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><b>City<em> of Dog, A Dogumentary <\/em>(2015)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In just 7 minutes, filmmaker Dimitris Lambridis sketches a vibrant portrait of the stray dogs of Athens, Greece, without resorting to voiceover or other narrative tricks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The contrast between the haves and the have-nots is eloquently illustrated in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a scene where a stray dog inspects a woman&#8217;s bag \u2014 which has a little yappy dog in it!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the vignettes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A golden lab mix melting with joy when strangers stop to pet it. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A world-weary pooch trying to get some shuteye outside a nightclub, ignoring the traffic and lights and music, and even the person offering it a treat.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An elderly dog slowly looking for scraps outside a restaurant.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dogs hanging out at the beach despite a sign that says &#8220;The Presence of Animals is Forbidden.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And finally, a kennel full of pups looking on longingly as one of their pack is led to a waiting car \u2014 for a new life as a house dog.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CITY OF DOG\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/125415621?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe>\n<p><b><i>The Dogs of New York<\/i><\/b><b> (2007)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a good place to live, Manhattan. People love their dogs and treat their dogs like nowhere else in the world,&#8221; says the owner of a pampered bulldog, one of many canines featured in this look at dogs in the Big Apple.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inspired by &#8220;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Humans of New York<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,&#8221; filmmaker Kim Wolf created <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dogs of New York<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0to celebrate the 1.25 million dogs in New York City.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the dogs featured are Velvet the Scottie, who eats nonfat kosher ice cream every day; Scottie the Pomeranian, whose mom takes him everywhere because of his separation anxiety; and Leroy the nearly hairless Chinese Crested, who basks in the attention at his owner&#8217;s Soho beauty salon. And who could forget Pepper, the wire-haired dachshund, who eats at the table and is described as &#8220;a spoiled little rich kid from Madison Avenue.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many of the dogs attend ultra-plush doggie daycare at the Ritzy Canine, whose decor includes a crystal chandelier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Wolf&#8217;s mission isn&#8217;t just spoiled rich pooches. She founded a nonprofit, Beyond Breed\/Ruff Riders, to help provide pet food and other resources to people who can&#8217;t afford them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wolf told the Huffington Post<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0that she continued &#8220;Dogs of New York&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0because, &#8220;I\u2019m especially interested in sharing the stories of people who might have been discriminated against or pre-judged because of appearances \u2014 whether it\u2019s the dog, the person, or both.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&#039;Dogs Of New York&#039;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ErieP-PDcXE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<hr \/>\n<p>More from Sharon Knolle:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Best in Shows: The 100 Most Iconic Dogs in Movies <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XN9A25RUhz\">https:\/\/t.co\/XN9A25RUhz<\/a> via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PasteMagazine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@pastemagazine<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Sharon Knolle (@sknolle) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sknolle\/status\/864532421974175746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 16, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just like the human population, dogs in the city can live a life of luxury or \u2014 sadly \u2014 roam the streets looking for food, shelter and the occasional kind touch. In honor of National Dog Day (Aug. 26) and the waning dog days of summer, here are some documentaries that examine what life is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":15834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[939],"tags":[],"topic":[1247,1293],"class_list":["post-15833","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lists","topic-cinema","topic-youth-and-family"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>7 Documentaries About Urban Dogs | PBS | Independent Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For National Dog Day here are some documentaries on the lives of city dogs, whether pampered or roaming the streets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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