By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Elizabeth Lo
Country: united_states
Year: 2021
Running time: 72
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11905922/reference
Michael says: “Returning to Istanbul, STRAY looks at the street dogs that make up much of the character of the city. Like KEDI, which looked at street cats in Istanbul, STRAY gives us a decidedly canine viewpoint, in fact goes even further by eschewing the viewpoints of the human characters and sticking firmly with the dogs. We pick up bits of conversation as the dogs, one in particular, move through their lives, but without the human viewpoint, the film is less compelling. The filmmakers do make an interesting connection between the stray dogs and the refugees living on the streets. Camera work is strong, and the lead dog, Seitan, is quite charismatic. It’s rather fascinating to see a community that embraces the freedom of animals on the street which is such a counterpoint to the treatment of ‘pets’ in America. 3 cats”
Bob says: “Not to be confused with KEDI, a documentary about cats in Istanbul, is Stray, a documentary about dogs in Istanbul.
“Elizabeth Lo, who shot, directed, and edited the film, introduces the day-to-day lives of Zeytin and a few other street dogs with quotes from Diogenes, who was born in what’s now Turkey (e.g. ‘Human beings live artificially and hypocritically and would do well to study the dog’) and ends up telling us a lot about the people and society that interacts with them.
“From what’s sort of the dogs’ POV (lots of shots from close to the ground) we meet up with, among other things, a women’s rights march and a group of three young refugees from Syria who spend their time sniffing glue and sleeping at a construction sit.”