New Film: Mine

MINE is the powerful story about the essential bond between humans and animals told against the backdrop of one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.

MINE explores how tragedy intensifies that bond and is told from the perspective of original guardians, rescuers, and adoptive parents of the voiceless victims of Katrina. These individuals are all connected by two things, the tragic aftermath of Katrina and their love of animals.

In response to an unprecedented crisis, thousands of pets needed to be transported around the country and adopted even when their displaced guardians still desperately wanted them. Meanwhile, many adoptive guardians have forged strong bonds with their new pets, nurturing them back to health from the traumas they suffered during and after the storm.

When two families love the same pet, conflicts inevitably arise over who is the rightful "owner" and what is right for the animal. At the center of this tension are pets who are loved like family, but by law are considered property. This begs the question, who is looking out for the best interest of the animals? Set in a post-Katrina landscape of poverty, loss and moral uncertainty, MINE presents the complexity of an intensely emotional situation that has no simple answers.

A tragedy of this scale reveals the worst and brings out the best in humankind and presents an opportunity for us to bring about meaningful social change. MINE is a compelling, character-driven story that challenges us see the way we treat animals in our society as a reflection of how we treat ourselves -- and each other..." Link

NY Screening: Nov 13 - Documentary: The Tiger Next Door

"The Tiger Next Door"

Margaret Mead Film Festival

Friday November 13 8pm

American Museum of Natural History

Advance Tickets RECOMMENDED

By phone 212-769-5200

Online tix on sale: here

The Tiger Next Door is a documentary film that tells the story of a man named Dennis Hill who has been breeding, and selling tigers from his backyard in Flat Rock, Indiana for over fifteen years. As Hill’s small town drama unfolds, a litany of news stories of tiger situations gone bad around the country suggest an animal welfare problem of much larger scope.

Tigers are simultaneously an occupation and an obsession for Dennis H. He claims to know exactly what they’re thinking by the look in their eyes. But now, after a surprise government inspection, he’s lost the license that allowed him to keep exotic animals, and the state of Indiana is threatening to shut him down. He has just five days to find alternate homes for all but three of his brood and to bring his facilities up to code – or else lose what he considers to be his life’s work.

As Dennis fights to hold on to his tigers over the days and months that follow, The Tiger Next Door follows him – exploring his motives, his past, and the curious, ethically-murky world he’s created in his backyard. At the same time, the film ranges far beyond Dennis’ animal compound, illuminating the connection between breeders like Dennis H, and the near-epidemic of wild animal keeping in the United States.

MOVIE: Cat Ladies

When cats mean "meow" to you than people.

CAT LADIES is a one hour verité documentary that unravels the real story behind the oft-ridiculed 'cat lady' - a cultural stereotype and figure of ridicule for women of a certain age with too many furry companions. Through the intimate portrait of four unique 'cat ladies' we create a sensitive and emotionally honest portrait of women whose lives and self-worth have become intractably linked to cats.

It's not the number of cats that defines someone as a 'cat lady', but rather their attachment, or non-attachment, to human beings. They create a world with their cats in which they are accepted and in control - a world where they ultimately have value.

Margot's universe revolves round her three cats – Bongo, Fritz and Little One. She skips work to stay at home with them and has re-designed her entire apartment to accommodate them. But the love and connection she gets from her cats is also getting in the way of her developing any relationships with human beings - and it's only through tragedy that she can glimpse an alternative.

In her mid 30s, Jenny appears to have it all – an attractive, fiercely independent sales agent with her own home that she just happens to share with 16 cats. It's not that she wouldn't want to find a partner or have children, but the experiences she endured as a child have prevented her from having healthy adult relationships. Jenny knows she's on the cusp of becoming "the Crazy Cat Lady". All it would take is a few more cats…

Diane is a vivacious former banker whose early and un-wanted retirement turned her to a life of saving cats from the streets. Now, she's sharing her home with 123 felines and when she's not feeding, cleaning and nursing them she's feeding and trapping feral cats in the wild. Diane wants to stop – but the thought of a cat starving or suffering breaks her heart. It's also ruining her health, sucking her bank account dry and alienating her from friends and family.

Sigi is on a mission to save cats. Like Diane, she's turned her house over to hundreds of the furry creatures, but unlike Diane she's unapologetic about her choices. If women like her didn't take matters into their own hands, who else would? Sigi's mission isn't one that her neighbours are buying into – the acrid smell and noise is an intolerable toll on anyone living close by – but Sigi's been a fighter all her life and being on the margins only makes her more defiant.

Women like Margot, Jenny, Diane and Sigi are easily dismissed as "crazy cat ladies", but these women deal with the issues that all of us face to some degree – alienation, loss and loneliness in a society that devalues the "different".