Don’t worry, nothing bad happens to the dog. Or cat.
Tracie Hotchner makes certain of that every year she selects the short films for her annual New York Cat & Dog Film Festival.
Take, for instance, one of this year’s films about the Cuddle Club, a senior dog rescue in San Francisco. Seniors who no longer can care for animals meet monthly at the Muttville Senior Dog Rescue to cuddle with senior dogs and get their dog fix.
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“I’ve learned over the years how much people can tolerate something emotional,” Hotchner said from home in Bennington, Vt. “Nothing bad happens, though sometimes they see a documentary about dogs or cats in reduced circumstances and some group or saviour person comes in. Sometimes the positive emotion is intense. I try for a blend of happy, sad, funny and sarcastic.”
After debuting in New York City in the fall, the films go on tour around the U.S. the following year, stopping at theaters and other venues. Each event raises money for local shelters and rescues.
Independent Film Society of Colorado will host the festival at Cottonwood Center for the Arts on Friday during First Friday Downtown. The cat films are at 4 p.m. and the dog films are at 6:30 p.m. A portion of the proceeds will go to Happy Cats Haven, which will have a table in the lobby. Pre-registration is recommended. Go online to ifsoc.org.
The nonprofit Independent Film Society of Colorado was formed in 2007 to support the filmmaking community in southern Colorado. The organization hosts more than 40 events yearly, including networking events, film festivals and other film screenings.
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“We haven’t done something like this and wanted to try it out,” said Jeremy Nye, the operations director. “We’re interested in anything that can support another local organization.”
Hotchner is the author of the 2005 book “The Dog Bible: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know” and 2007’s “The Cat Bible: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know.” Known as a pet wellness advocate, she’s hosted pet talk podcasts for more than 15 years, including “Dog Talk” on NPR and “The Pet Cancer Vet” and “Exotic Pets” on Spotify and other podcast platforms.
She started the dog film festival a decade ago after her dog book did well. She had a built-in audience with her NPR dog podcast and figured a one-time film festival might succeed. It did. So much so that a sponsor suggested she travel it around the country. Two years later, she debuted the cat film festival.
“And the irony is twice as many cat lovers show up to the film festival as dog fans,” Hotchner said. “They’re so happy someone is making movies about their beloved species.”
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This year’s festival will feature 19 cat films and 17 dog films, each ranging in length from one to 20 minutes.
“They’re films you can’t see anywhere else,” she said. “They’re short and there’s no marketplace for short films. It’s a community experience to come and watch movies together. You laugh, you cry, you feel like you’re with like-minded people having an experience, which is rare in the modern world. We’re so distanced from each other.”
