Awarded Best Film in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, Black Dog is the story of two outsiders. After a long prison sentence, Lang returns to his hometown on the edge of the Gobi Desert in north-western China. In the lead-up to the 2008 Olympic Games, everything is in a state of upheaval — buildings are slated for demolition, and efforts are underway to eliminate the town’s stray dogs which traipse along sidewalks, skulk inside condemned buildings, and snarl at residents. Haunted by the victims of his past crimes, Lang finds work as a dog catcher. Oscillating between melancholy and humor, Black Dog is a bold combination of whimsy and social realism. (BH)

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