When I received the email offering a chance to review a documentary about stray dogs in Turkey, I was both excited and concerned that I may be too depressed to finish the film.
Luckily, I watched the documentary in its entirety, and I hope you get the chance to do the same. If you are an animal lover and/or animal advocate, then this should be a film that you champion. Stray follows stray dogs who live on the streets of Turkey. The country is great because it’s illegal to euthanize dogs.
My favorite aspect of the film is that it’s shot from the low perspective of a dog. You really get to see a different side of the street, which is a nice change. The angle also is off-putting at first. After a little, you will be fine with the motion. It is almost like you’re a small person that is riding along on the back of the dog.
Do not tell me that dogs are not smart. The dogs followed in the film have every spot memorized to find food or shelter. These are natural instincts for a dog, so it is not surprising that they are putting their breeding to work for them.
I am so thankful that this film showed me a completely different perspective, and that is the perspective of a dog. Watch the trailer below:
Magnolia Pictures will release STRAY in theaters and on-demand on March 5th, 2021
Directed, Filmed, and Edited by Elizabeth Lo
Produced by Elizabeth Lo and Shane Boris
Co-Producers Ceylan Carhoglu and Zeynep Köprülü
Executive Produced by Ina Fichman
Synopsis:
STRAY explores what it means to live as a being without status or security, following three strays as they embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society. Zeytin, fiercely independent, embarks on adventures through the city at night; Nazar, nurturing and protective, easily befriends the humans around her; while Kartal, a shy puppy living on the outskirts of a construction site, finds companions in the security guards who care for her. The strays’ disparate lives intersect when they each form intimate bonds with a group of young Syrians with whom they share the streets. Director Elizabeth Lo’s award-winning film is a critical observation of human civilization through the unfamiliar gaze of dogs and a sensory voyage into new ways of seeing.
The Author
