Online screening: Stray

How to watch: Register for the screening at the link above. A few days before the event, you will receive a link to the screening. After the film, the Q&A will take place on our Twitch channel, twitch.tv/filmstudiescenter. You don’t need a Twitch account to watch the discussion. If you would like to ask questions, you’ll need to sign up for a free Twitch account (you can also log in using your Facebook account). To ask questions during the discussion, simply type into Twitch’s chat window.

Please note: This online screening is available to US-based viewers only.

Through the eyes of three stray dogs wandering the streets of Istanbul, Elizabeth Lo's documentary Stray explores what it means to live as a being without status or security. As they search for food and shelter, Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society that allow us an unvarnished portrait of human life—and their own canine culture. Zeytin, fiercely independent, embarks on solitary 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 refuge with the security guards who care for her. The disparate lives of Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal intersect when they each form intimate bonds with a group of young Syrians who share the streets with them. Whether they lead us into bustling streets or decrepit ruins, the gaze of these strays act as windows into the overlooked corners of society: women in loveless marriages, protesters without arms, refugees without sanctuary. The film is a critical observation of human civilization through the unfamiliar gaze of dogs and a sensory voyage into new ways of seeing.

Q&A with director Elizabeth Lo, moderated by Department of Cinema and Media Studies PhD student Sasha Crawford-Holland.