Saturday December 9 saw the launch of the first ever New York Cat Film Festival. It was founded by Tracy Hotchner, who also founded the New York Dog Film Festival and a radio station for pets.
Source: NY Cat Film Festival
The festival took place over a day, with 12 short documentaries and stories about our feline friends shown - not including films about Instagram stars such as Grumpy Cat and Lil' Bub.In an interview with the New-York Times, Hotchner said that she excluded these types of videos on purpose, saying that they "made fun of the animals" they were supposed to celebrate. Instead, she wanted the festival to 'pay tribute' to cats, who are often overlooked n favor of dogs:
The intention is to illuminate who cats are and how they fit into our world. And that illumination is not about cuteness.
This doesn't mean that the films were less emotional, or heart warming; one, "Rescue", is about Akamatsu, a disabled cat and his family, which you can watch below:
Another engaging documentary, "Jetty Cats", tells the story of the 'Trap, Neuter, Release' program, which neuters feral cats instead of killing them.
Another troupe of stray cats is explored in "Guardians of Recoleta". Recoleta, a cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is home to many stray felines, who are treated as its guardians, keeping the souls of the dead safe.Because of this, they have an entire veterinary team devoted to them, as well as being fed and fussed over by members of the public.
Plus, despite the bad stereotypes that plague cats, their film festival sold out three times as fast as the dog version!The New York Cat Film Festival is currently on tour in the US, with box office profits going towards local animal charities. It will return to New York in 2018.
H/t: The New York Times
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