|
Over 5 million abandoned, unwanted pets end up at animal shelters across the United States each year. A lucky few are adopted. What happens to the unwanted animals? What should happen to them? SHELTER DOGS, a lyrical and moving portrait of a previously unexplored world, (D: Cynthia Wade, USA, 75 minutes) exposes some of the controversial issues surrounding the worldwide overpopulation of man's best friend. When filmmaker Cynthia Wade set out to create a film about ethics and animal shelters, with every interview conducted she became more intrigued by one name; Sue Sternberg. She learned that Sternberg owned and operated Rondout Valley Kennels/Animals for Adoption on the cusp of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. She also discovered that unlike many animal shelters across the United States, Rondout did not adopt a no-kill policy that seems to be sweeping the nation. Wade spent the next three years creating this informative and heartbreaking documentary about the daily life and death decisions made at the shelter. The documentary follows four shelter residents; Ginger, surrendered by her owner for aggressive behaviour around a new born baby; Fred, a Doberman Pinscher puppy diagnosed with a degenerative disease; Beau, a young and aggressive cocker spaniel, and Agnes, a 12 year old Shepherd mix who was orphaned when her owner died. SHELTER DOGS questions what the true compassionate choice is when making the difficult decision of what to do with a dog that poses a possible risk to adopters, faces a life time of pain and suffering, or is deemed too old to be adopted. Director Cynthia Wade is no stranger to controversy. She has worked on projects such as TAKEN IN: THE LIVES OF AMERICA'S FOSTER CHILDREN about the foster care system in the US and other projects that explore divorce, homelessness and drug addiction. Wade has been Field Producer for A&E's Biography and Ancient Mysteries series, Discovery's On The Inside and the History Channel's In Search of History television series and currently teaches documentary film productions at Film/Video Arts in New York. Doc Soup, Hot Docs' celebrated film and discussion series, launched its 3rd season on October 15th with CINEMANIA (D: Stephen Kijak & Angela Christlieb), a documentary about 5 NYC movie junkies. Future Doc Soup screenings will be held on February 11, March 10 and April 7. The series has also screened MORNING SUN, a doc about the Chinese cultural revolution and THE KIDNAPPING OF INGRID BETANCOURT, a doc about a Colombian presidential candidate who was kidnapped by FARQ while campaigning for democracy and freedom. Titles for Doc Soup are normally announced 4 weeks before their screening. Tickets are $10.00 each and free with valid student ID, courtesy of the Toronto Star. For further ticket information and programming updates, please visit the Hot Docs website at www.hotdocs.ca.
|
