Indy Film, The Year of the Dog, opening in Anaconda

The award-winning, indy film, “The Year of the Dog” will be opening for a minimum 2-week run at the Washoe Theatre in Anaconda, on February 24th.

The Year of the Dog was filmed exclusively in Montana, and centers around the relationship between Matt, a struggling alcoholic fighting to get sober for himself, and more so his mother, and a stray dog named Yup’ik.

The starting story of Matt is not a good one, constant failures have led him to be stubborn and short-tempered. It also has led him to alcoholism as a mechanism of escape. But of course, it has only made things worse. After spending a couple of days in a drunk tank, Matt finds himself at his AA Sponsor Fred’s farm trying to string 30 days of sobriety together so he can visit his mother. His mother’s only wish, to see Matt sober.

Staying at his AA sponsor Fred’s farm, Matt comes across a ‘mutt’ on the property. Matt (for a variety of reasons) decides to keep the dog, and names him Youpick (Yup’ik). Fred thinks Matt trying to care for a dog, in his current state, is a very bad idea.

According to Fred, Yup’ik (much like Matt) is stubborn, short-tempered, and just too much for Matt to handle while still fighting his addiction. Matt and Yup’ik have much to learn about each other, and in turn themselves, but they first must learn how to coexist. For a pair of strays, that won’t be easy.
There is so much more to the story; here is a look at the official trailer.

The Year of the Dog is co-directed by Andy McGinn, (BFA in acting from Julliard), Michael Peterson (Montana State film school graduate), and Rob Grabow from Livingston, MT.

Along with Co-directing duties, Rob Grabow wrote the script for the movie. Grabow adds, “It’s a ‘made in Montana Film’ but the movie’s themes are universal: alcoholism and recovery, healing through connection, the remarkable love of a dog, and the struggle to repair damaged relationships when we’ve hit rock bottom.”

Another fantastic benefit of this movie being shown in Anaconda is a portion of the ticket sales will be donated to the Chelsea Bailey Animal Shelter. Yup’ik, is himself a rescued Siberian Husky named Caleb. He was bounced between several different foster homes and shelters and was described as ‘too energetic’ as a pup. It was important to the producers to champion local shelters, as many dogs featured in the film besides Caleb, are rescues.

The Year of the Dog boasts an incredible cast, including Caleb as Yup’ik, and Writer/ Co-Director Rob Grabow playing Matt. The cast also includes two powerful Indigenous actors in Jon Proudstar and Lakota actor Michael Spears.

Jon Proudstar has an amazing resume with 43 movies to his credit and is most recently known for his portrayal of Leon in Reservation Dogs. Michael Spears’ resume is another incredible read, including Dances with Wolves, 1923, and Reservation Dogs.

There are an awful lot of reasons to make a date to see this film, whatever your reason is hopefully we will see you in Anaconda at the Washoe Theatre starting February 24th, for The Year of the Dog.

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