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Geralyn Pezanoski on Pet Life Radio

Geralyn Pezanoski

 

Geralyn Pezanoski



     

    GERALYN RAE PEZANOSKI: DIRECTOR/PRODUCER


    Geralyn Pezanoski, Co-Founder of Smush Media, has 12 years of experience in film and video production and makes her feature directorial debut with MINE. Film producing credits include the narrative short, On A Tuesday (Santa Barbara & LAIFF) and Motherland (SXSW), and directing credits include the doc series Firehouse (Sony Pictures Entertainment). She lives in San Francisco with her husband Peter and their dog Nola.

    MINE DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

    Like millions across the country I was profoundly affected by the startling images I witnessed
    during coverage of Hurricane Katrina: people stranded on rooftops, suffering crowds at the
    Super Dome, and the decimation of one of America’s most culturally vibrant and diverse cities.
    And like millions of others I was devastated as well by images of the thousands of animals in
    distress – their helplessness bringing into even greater relief the chaos and overwhelming
    scope of the tragedy. So when I read about a nascent but quickly growing rescue effort being
    carried out by animal lovers from across the country and the world, I decided to go to New
    Orleans to document this incredible undertaking.

    During the ensuing six weeks I filmed dozens of intrepid rescue workers, devoted animal
    rights advocates, and thousands of animals in need of saving - even after they were ‘rescued’.
    While a few residents trickled back into New Orleans and managed to reclaim their pets, most
    were displaced and barred from entering the city, so I watched day after day as these
    unclaimed animals were loaded onto trucks and planes and sent to shelters across the
    country, their fates uncertain. While the hope was that many of these animals would either be
    fostered until their owners claimed them, or adopted into new homes, the reality was that
    many of them would meet the same fate as millions of other animals around the country:
    being euthanized before the year’s end. It was this horrific thought that lead to my decision to
    foster (and eventually adopt) a Katrina dog, a pointer mix I called Nola. She was skin and
    bones when I met her, and she refused to leave my side for more than a couple of seconds. It
    didn’t take either of us long to bond.

    As the months went on, my crew and I began to see an increasing number of residents
    returning to New Orleans to try to rebuild their lives. It became apparent that legions of them -
    people who had lost everything – were desperate to find their pets. We heard about hundreds
    of other cases across the county: people who were still displaced but on the hunt for their
    animals. But as broad and deep as the story went, there seemed to be strangely little
    information about it in mainstream media. I had many questions: Why hadn’t people been
    allowed to evacuate with their animals? Now that these animals were adopted into new
    homes, who had the authority to decide whether they should be left where they were or
    returned to their previous owners? Why were original owners running into such resistance in
    trying to find and reclaim their pets? What would I do if someone came looking for Nola, to
    whom I had become so attached?

    I explored these questions and many more during the three years I spent making MINE. My
    primary focus was on a handful of extraordinary Katrina victims committed to finding their
    animals even years after the disaster, but the story extends to rescue workers and new
    adoptive guardians, who, like me, decided to take in pets left behind and care for them as their
    own. We met and interviewed hundreds of people over the years, and what emerged was a
    profound story of the bond between humans and animals, and the power of that bond to
    ameliorate human suffering. Equally striking, however, were stories both of the continuing
    prevalence of racism and classism in America, and the incredible power of compassion in the
    wake of tragedy. All of these stories become one in MINE.

    I hope that MINE puts a human face on issues that may seem far removed from the lives of
    most Americans, but in fact affect us all - and that the film will promote much needed dialogue
    not just about how we treat our animals, but how we treat each other.

    - Geralyn Pezanoski

     

 

 

 

 


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