At The Movie Buff, we recently had the chance to watch the film “Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog,” which was a somber Holocaust movie that opened up dialogue. Unlike more somber Holocaust films, Director and co-Writer Lynn Roth’s film—based off the novel by Asher Kravitz—has more in common with “Life is Beautiful.” The film centers on hope, using the relationship the film’s German Shepherd, Kaleb, has with both a little Jewish boy (August Maturo) and a SS soldier who has less than benign intentions for the dog.
But the larger part of the movie is simply one of exploration. “Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog” smartly doesn’t use its lead dog to tug at the heartstrings, but to bring up themes of bonding, racism (is there really such a thing as a ‘Jewish dog?’), and the malleable nature of children. If a dog can be taught to love and hate, what is the application towards racism, intolerance, and the mental processes that lead to genocides like the Holocaust?
We were lucky enough to be able to sit down and have a Zoom chat with both Director Lynn Roth and lead Actor August Maturo last week. Among the topics discussed were the aim of Roth’s film, the difficulty of filming a movie that centers around a young child and a dog, the film’s production, and, of course, how it feels to have a smaller film open in select theaters against big budget productions like “Cruella.”
You can watch the interview in the window below on YouTube, or click and watch on YouTube directly. Please remember to like and subscribe to our channel to support the site and indie film. Thank you and enjoy the show!
