Film: Canine Soldiers

Join us at Women & Their Work on Thurs. Oct. 23, 7pm, for a sneak preview screening of Canine Soldiers, a powerful documentary that explores the intimate bond between Soldier Handlers and their Military Working Dogs. Mo-Ti productions presents a film by Nancy Schiesari. Donations for this work in progress are welcomed at the door.

Schiesari is an experienced director, producer and cinematographer on both broadcast documentaries and award winning independent films.  Her latest full-length documentary, Tattooed Under Fire, aired nationwide on PBS in 2009. “Hansel Mieth-Vagabond Photographer” premiered on PBS’ Independent Lens in 2003, and on the Australian Broadcast Corporation. She also directed History Man, a half hour profile on Martin Scorsese for BBC 4, London, 2004.

About the movie Canine Soldiers: KLRU sponsored, distribution secured.
Man’s best friend can be a soldier’s best friend. In a war where the rules of engagement have shifted from traditional combat to the unforeseen and the invisible, military dogs play a vital role in Afghanistan as never before. Canine intelligence and the canine’s powerful instincts are saving lives, giving soldiers comfort, hope and protection.

Canine Soldiers, shot entirely in 3-D, with permission from the US Army, reveals the intimate bond between trainers and the dogs they send to war, soldiers who make decisions based on the behavior of the dogs who lead their patrol, and extraordinary stories of unprecedented acts of bravery. From a dog throwing himself over a young soldier to take the bullet from a sniper attack, to the reaction of a dog who witnessed a marine shoot a feral dog on a Kabul street and went “on strike,” refusing to obey orders, we’ll investigate the wartime contributions of highly intelligent companion species.

Can animal behavior lend a new perspective on war, teaching us what it means truly to be human in the most inhuman of circumstances?

To honor our evolution of companionship between species, Canine Soldiers will focus on stories of intelligent behavior, acts of bravery, and the “moral” positions sometimes unexpectedly taken up by our canine soldiers and their handlers.

This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department