Movie Minute: Seniors, A Dogumentary

 November is National Adopt a Senior Pet Month - and to celebrate, filmmaker Gorman Bechard has trained his lens on some of the most spirited senior dogs on the planet and the people who love them, in SENIORS, A DOGUMENTARY, a feature-length makes-you-smile while it melts-your-heart movie now available on DVD and video-on-demand.

Bechard, whose film A Dog Named Gucci earned the 2015 ASPCA Media Excellence Award, focuses this time on the famed Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary of Mount Juliet, TN; its founders, Zina and Michael Goodin, and how they came about their mission to rescue older dogs; as well as the bond between Chaser the Border Collie, aka "The Smartest Dog in the World," and Dr. John W. Pilley, her lifelong teacher and companion. Chaser had the largest tested memory of any non-human animal; and at the age of 12 could still identify and retrieve more than 1,000 items by name.

You'll also meet Izzy, who was adopted by the residents of a senior home after the death of the resident who owned her; and Leo, a friendly, 13-year-old ball-of-fluff, he's the most popular dog - and biggest fundraiser - in the history of Old Friends. All their stories and a bevy of others come together in captivating fashion through the lens of Jane Sobel Klonsky, renowned photographer and author of the book Unconditional: Older Dogs, Deeper Love.

The film paints a touching picture of the vitality these frosted-faced dogs still have left. As Klonsky says, "What they need is not that much. But yet, what they're willing to give you is that much more."

The DVD, from the MVD Entertainment Group, features several extras, including the Q&A session with Bechard and many of the film's participants from the world premiere at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre in March. The lone pre-pandemic screening reaped more than 30 user reviews on IMDb, with a 9.7 average rating, and comments such as "Best documentary of the year" and "Heartwarming, happy and inspiring!"

Bechard has directed 18 feature films, including the recently released Pizza, a Love Story, about New Haven's world-renowned pizza; and music documentaries on The Replacements, Grant Hart, Archers of Loaf, Lydia Loveless, and (soon) Jay Bennett of Wilco, He and his wife, Kristine, are the pet humans of Springsteen (who's also featured in the film) and Dylan.

For more information please visit: www.SeniorsDogumentary.com