Dreaming Dogs

DREAMING DOGS begins like a mythical fairy tale, even as it focuses on the harsh reality of present-day Moscow. The economic collapse has forced many factories to close, turning the landscape into a wasteland. Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter continue the exploration they began in their previous film SPACE DOGS. Here, they follow Nadja, a homeless woman who spends her everyday life with a group of friends and a pack of stray canines for company. Filmed over three years, this unusual documentary explores precarity, the periphery, and the bond between species. The filmmakers build a loose narrative of the quotidian in which the camera—shooting frequently at dog’s eye level—becomes an instrument of inquiry and thought, as experimental forms and textures convey the experience of drifting through a nomadic, timeless existence. The relationship between Nadja and one of her dogs, Dingo, becomes a powerful reflection on the intense interdependence between creatures living at the fringe of society. DREAMING DOGS illustrates the rewards of careful observation, crafting a dreamlike atmosphere pierced by some truly hypnotic passages and bursts of emotional turbulence. (Cristina Álvarez López) 

In the presence of Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter.

Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter: SPACE DOGS (2019)