The Distant Barking of Dogs

86 ^min

Denmark, Finland, Sweden

The citizen and the state Children's rights

eng: for_whom

Government officials Journalists Activists / NGOs Students Pupils Teachers

The Distant Barking of Dogs

The film follows 10-year-old Oleh, whose life has been turned upside down by the ongoing war in East Ukraine. Oleh lives with his beloved grandmother Oleksandra in a small house in a village on the frontline. Most people have left the village, but Oleh and Oleksandra love their life together there, and want to stay on and take care of each other. But life is becoming more and more difficult and the war does not seem to end.

Director

Simon Lereng Wilmont

graduated as a documentary film director from the National Film School of Denmark in 2009. He holds a BA in Japanese. His film Above the Ground, Beneath the Sky won Best Short at Vision du Réel, Dormitory Master won the Gold Panda award at the Sichuan TV Festival. His first feature documentary, Travelling with Mr. T, was co-directed with Andreas Dalsgaard and nominated for a Nordic Dox Award. Wilmont has also directed the documentaries Chikara – The Sumo Wrestler’s Son, which was screened at a number of international festivals, and The Distant Barking of Dogs, which was selected for competition at IDFA.

I watched the film thinking about the old ill lady who has to take care not only of herself but also of her two grandchildren. How hard it is under these conditions for an elderly person to bring up two boys with love! Especially when they don’t know where to sleep so that they can wake up tomorrow and not die under shelling, when there are no proper human conditions, material and medical provision…

Sviatoslav,

visitor of the Docudays UA film club at NGO Doloni Communications Center

The Distant Barking of Dogs

eng: scenario_fragment