The Plague Dogs

Introduced by Mihaela Mihailova, Assistant Professor of Cinema at San Francisco State University on 6/9.

A very different kind of animated film. Make sure to leave the kids (and pets) at home for THE PLAGUE DOGS, a rarely-screened masterpiece of arthouse animation whose haunting memory will never leave you.

This fascinating follow-up to 1978’s landmark WATERSHIP DOWN follows lab test dogs Snitter and Rowf, who jailbreak from their torture in a secret facility only to find that the outside world’s even more bleak. Since the dogs accidentally broke a vial used by plague researchers on their way out, the human world launches a lethal hunt. Here is a world where animals are not a blank slate for our ideals and morality, but are the direct expression of the animals themselves; Humanity’s the bad guy, and the audience is not left off the hook. Featuring a slew of top-tier British voice talents: John Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Judy Geeson and Patrick Stewart.

Part of Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair, a global series presented in partnership with the American Cinematheque.