Screenings
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ATLANTIC CANADIAN PREMIERE
Pick of the Litter follows a litter of puppies from the moment they’re born and begin their quest to become guide dogs for the blind. Cameras follow these pups through an intense two-year odyssey as they train to become dogs whose ultimate responsibility is to protect their blind partners from harm.
Along the way, these remarkable animals rely on a community of dedicated individuals who train them to do amazing, life-changing things in the service of their human. The stakes are high and not every dog can make the cut. Only the best of the best. The pick of the litter.
2018 / USA / 81 MIN
Filmmakers
Dana Nachman, Director, Writer, Producer
Dana Nachman is an award-winning filmmaker of both fiction and documentary films. Nachman’s 2018 feature documentary Pick of the Litter was sold within 48 hours of its premiere at the Slamdance festival and will be released later this year by IFC’s Sundance Selects label.
Nachman’s 2015 film “Batkid Begins” was bought and distributed by Warner Bros./New Line Cinema. Previously she wrote, directed and produced the documentaries “Witch Hunt,” which was executive produced by Sean Penn and premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival; “Love Hate Love,” which premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival; and “The Human Experiment,” which screened at the Mill Valley and IDFA Film Festivals. She has won a number of awards over the course of her career, including three regional Emmy Awards, The Edward R. Murrow Award, and dozens of Jury and Audience Awards at film festivals.
Don Hardy, Director, Producer, Editor, Cinematographer
Don Hardy is an Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist, and storyteller. Don’s new film, Pick of the Litter, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January 2018 and was purchased by IFC Films/Sundance Selects for theatrical distribution.
Currently, Don is in production on two new feature documentaries: A Band Called Failure about the influential 90’s rock band, Failure and Camp Penn which tells the story of the birth and growth of Sean Penn’s aid organization J/P HRO after a catastrophic earthquake shook Haiti in 2010.