STRAY

By Elizabeth LO

DOGWOOF - as SALES / DISTR Theatrical, TV, DVD-video, VOD, Airline, UNITED KINGDOM

Documentary - Completed 2020

In Stray, a trio of canine outcasts roam the streets of Istanbul. Through their eyes and ears, we are shown an intimate portrait of the life of a city and its people.

Festivals
& Awards

Tribeca FF 2020
New Documentary Directors Award
Hot Docs 2020
Best International Documentary Feature
    • Year of production
    • 2020
    • Genres
    • Documentary
    • Countries
    • USA
    • Languages
    • TURKISH
    • Duration
    • 72 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Elizabeth LO
    • Producer(s)
    • Elizabeth LO, Shane BORIS
    • Synopsis
    • Through the eyes of its stray dogs wandering the streets of Istanbul, Stray explores what it means to live as a being without status or security. As they search for food and shelter, three dogs—Zeytin, Nazar, and Kartal—embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society that allow us an unvarnished portrait of human life. Whether they lead us into decrepit ruins or bustling streets, the gaze of strays act as windows into the overlooked corners of society: women in loveless marriages, protesters without arms, refugees without sanctuary. Through their canine eyes, we are shown a human world ruptured by divisions along class, ethnic, and gender lines.

      The film is both a critical observation of human civilisation through the unfamiliar gaze of dogs, and a sensory voyage into new ways of seeing and being from a position of extreme marginalisation. It is at this intersection that Stray seeks to shed light on Turkey’s societal convulsions through the observations of Zeytin and her companions —both human and nonhuman.