Caballito

Monochrome images of the filmmaker’s ailing dog Caballito on the last day of his life, resting, drinking water and walking in the streets. Edited exactly one year later, this tender film, shot on Super-8, enacts a ritual of artistic mourning, but it is also a celebration of life. Where Sirus Remembered (IFFR 2002) stoically observes the decomposing body of Stan Brakhage’s deceased dog, Claremi’s film embalms Caballito’s final moments of vitality for eternity. – Srikanth Srinivasan