New York Dog Film Festival 2025

The NY Dog Film Festival® is a medley of short films – animated, documentary and narrative – from around the world. These entertaining and inspirational movies celebrate all the ways we love our dogs. At the same time, we want to raise awareness of the life-saving work being done at small rescues and large shelters. In every location where the Dog Film Festival® travels, an animal welfare organization in the community will be the beneficiary of a portion of every ticket. For this screening, that organization is the Animal Protective Foundation. The APF hopes to be able to have information available about their organization at the event. 100 minutes.

IMPORTANT CONTENT NOTE: This program is recommended for adults and older school-age children. The three “Service Dog Salute” films may prove confusing or challenging for younger children because these films deal with the emotionally complicated issues of veterans with PTSD and how their service dogs have saved their lives.

The 2025 NY Dog Film Fest line-up includes:

• “Welly The Dog Poet” by Karen L. Mintz — Three very funny philosophical poems by Welly, a poetic dog.
• “Lucky Dog” by Donna W. Guthrie — An animated celebration of a dog who lives what he considers a lucky life in a retirement home, where the residents know and remember him in different ways.
• “Traveling This Road Together” by Mutual Rescue — A woman and her dog, both cancer survivors, helped each other in their remote Colorado Rockies home through recovery during the pandemic.
• “Love Another” by Diana Rousseau — A fanciful black and white “old timey” film about falling in love with a new dog while grieving another.
• “To Comfort & Serve” by Ron and Amy Schmidt (Service Dog Salute Finalist) — A close look at the deep bond between three veterans in Vermont with PTSD service dogs, and the woman who founded Paws & Boots, a non-profit to train dogs for these veterans.
• “Pearl & Argot; A Love Story” by Phil Audibert — A heart-warming fable about three dogs and a cat.
• “Before Us (“Antes De Nos”)” by Alex Xavier — A sophisticated animation of an adopted dog’s owners trying to imagine how he ended up on the streets.
• “Unleashed” by Yayoi Kawahito — A New York City dog walker who brings the pack for hikes in the woods.
• “The Wingman” by Nick Bustamante (Service Dog Salute Finalist) — Former Air Force General Scott Wiggins shares the profound connection he has with his service dog, Bear, who helps manage his PTSD and is a true wingman to him.
• “Buffy & the Balloon” by John Maslowski — An animated short tale of a dog who meets a special balloon.
• “Rolling with the Pack” by Garrreth Bird — Dogs and a human in harmony, as two German Short haired Pointers pull their paralyzed owner in an adapted wheelchair-bike in symbiotic thrall!
• “Coming Down is the Hardest Thing” by Kely Maloney — Cubby, a three-year old Bernedoodle, is in a funk. When his parents threaten to leave him behind for the first time, he must learn to do the impossible
• “Who Wants A Cuddle?” by Jane Goldman — At the Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco, the Cuddle Club for (human) senior citizens celebrates 10 years of the Cuddle Club.
• “A Dog Can Make a Difference” by Spencer Matches (Service Dog Salute Finalist) — After a profound loss, Carol dedicated her life to training service dogs for veterans with PTSD, providing them practical assistance and a renewed sense of purpose and hope.
• “Eben” by Josh Greene and Jack Lattin — A joyful testimonial to Eben, a traveling French Bulldog, who has climbed mountains his whole life and at 12 years old sets out to summit one last peak while battling cancer.
• “Welly the Dog Poet”by Karen L. Mintz — Three more poetic musings on life from a philosophical dog.
• “Freddie Bear’s Lovely Day” by Mustapha Khan — Freddie Bear the Goldendoodle joyfully channels Bill Withers’ iconic song on a Hamptons Beach.