Art and community were brought together during the latest monthly Stray Buddy Café on Sunday 8 Sept (2024).
A small group of community animal caregivers from different Stray Buddy affiliated areas in South Delhi jointly watched the award-winning documentary ‘Stray’, directed by the talented Elizabeth Lo. We cozily settled in during the rainy afternoon with tea, sweets, chips and muffins brought in by community members. The Residents’ Welfare Association of Saket J-block had thankfully offered us their cabin. A live streaming was offered for those who were not able to join in person.
Together we embarked on a poignant and poetic journey into the lives of Istanbul’s stray dogs in Turkey, as they navigate the urban landscape with resilience and wit.
STORYLINE: ‘Stray’ explores what it means to live as a being without status or security, following three free living dogs as they embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society. Zeytin, fiercely independent, embarks on adventures through the city at night; Nazar, nurturing and protective, easily befriends the humans around her; while Kartal, a shy puppy living on the outskirts of a construction site, finds companions in the security guards who care for her. These street dogs’ disparate lives intersect when they each form intimate bonds with a group of young Syrians with whom they share the streets.
Through stunning visuals and intimate storytelling, ‘Stray’ challenges us to reconsider our relationship with animals and the world around us. After watching the documentary together, we reflected on the themes of compassion, community, and coexistence that emerge from the lives of these incredible animals. One participant pointed out parallels between two marginalized groups of society featuring in the movie, one being human and the other non-human. 😉
The movie director shows us the world through a non-human gaze. In an interview Elisabeth Lo says: “We’ve always evolved with other species, but suddenly, in this modern world, that connection has been cut off. The Western point of view tends to think of cities with stray animals as immoral, inhumane. Even though pets are loved, animals are defined either by a sense of property and ownership, or seen as nuisances that have to be exterminated. But when a city doesn’t have a stray animal population, it often means they’re being killed behind closed doors. Eurocentrism and anthropocentrism, which puts humans at the center of the world, are equally toxic and destructive. I want this film to be an act of resistance to those narratives.”
Elizabeth Lo’s remarkable debut has captivated audiences worldwide, earning top honors at the Tribeca Film Festival and beyond. We are honored to be able to bring this powerful film to the Stray Buddy community. For those who missed the screening: we have permission to share the exclusive Vimeo link with you (send us an email).
In our next blog, we’ll zoom in on the topical background of the shocking news about new inhumane stray dog laws in Turkey, a country that used to have a no capture/no kill policy when it comes to stray dogs. We will relate this to the recent Indian Supreme Court judgment opposing such measures while reinforcing the animal birth control policy as the only legal (and scientific) way to control the free-living dog population in India. And finally we’ll loop this back to the coexistence-is-possible rationale behind the Stray Buddy program.
Stay tuned!
