Tonight is the local premiere of “Mine,” a feature-length documentary about pets abandoned in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the custody battles that ensue between their current and former owners. Roxie audiences will experience an emotional (and at times victorious) set of stories that won filmmaker Geralyn Pezanoski and her SF-based team a South by Southwest audience award earlier this year. If you’re able to see the film, I’m eager to hear your reactions to the situations and whether it raised concerns about animal evacuation during natural disasters.
When asked about her reasons for wanting to tell the experiences of animal guardians and rescuers, associate producer (and pal) Alley Pezanoski-Browne said, “The story of the animals of New Orleans after Katrina shows how desperately we need to make better plans and how widespread the repercussions of the disaster were. The stories are still unfolding, and we can’t forget what happened.”
I look forward to seeing “Mine” when it reaches the Denver area. Viewers might be interested to know about a book I’ve written, titled Filling the Ark: Animal Welfare in Disasters (Temple University Press). It have just come out. Any bookstore can order it if it isn’t on the shelves. You can also order it through Amazon or from the publisher.
Here’s the publisher’s link for info on the book:
http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1977_reg.html
I was lucky enough to see the film last night and it was a truly amazing experience. “Mine” captures numerous emotional, personal stories while simultaneously touching on a unique, complicated, and super interesting policy issue. Now we just have to figure out how everyone can see it!
“Mine” should be seen by all. It is not biased towards the evil in people, nor the good in people. It’s simply an honest look at just people. This film is also a testament to what went wrong in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and it should not be forgotten. See this film and I promise you will have a hard time not bringing it up in conversation with others.
[...] Pezanoski-Browne, a lauded local filmmaker in her own right, turned me on to tonight’s Film Arts Forum at Mezzanine. The “Meet the [...]
[...] pal Alley Pezanoski-Browne associate produced about custody battles over pets rescued post-Katrina, Mine, will be part of the programming along with two films I’m especially looking forward to: [...]