The Distant Barking of Dogs

POV Season 32
  • Feature Film
  • 2019
  • 60 Mins

The Distant Barking of Dogs follows the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg over a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of the on-going war in Eastern Ukraine. Having no other place to go, Oleg and his grandmother Alexandra stay and watch as others leave the village, showing just how crucial—and fragile—family is for survival. Shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature for the 91st Academy Awards.

More from this film

Official Trailer | The Distant Barking of Dogs

  • Feature Film
  • 2019

Trailer

The Distant Barking of Dogs follows the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg over a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of the on-going war in Eastern Ukraine. Having no other place to go, Oleg ...

Behind The Lens | The Distant Barking of Dogs

  • Feature Film
  • 2019

Interview

The Distant Barking of Dogs follows the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg over a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of the on-going war in Eastern Ukraine. Having no other place to go, Oleg ...

Lesson Plan Clip 1 | The Distant Barking of Dogs | POV | PBS

  • Feature Film
  • 2019

Clip

The Distant Barking of Dogs follows the life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg over a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence beneath the pressures of the on-going war in Eastern Ukraine. Having no other place to go, Oleg ...

Based on similar topics

Survivors

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Clip

Through the eyes of Sierra Leonean filmmaker Arthur Pratt, Survivors presents an intimate portrait of his country during the Ebola outbreak, exposing the complexity of the epidemic and the sociopolitical turmoil that lies in its wake. During one of the ...

Nowhere to Hide

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Clip

Nowhere to Hide follows nurse Nori Sharif through five years of dramatic change in one of the world's most dangerous and inaccessible areas: the "triangle of death" in central Iraq. Initially filming stories of survivors and the hope of a ...

Whose Streets?

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Clip

When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for the residents of the St. Louis area and beyond. Whose Streets? is an unflinching look at the ...

Almost Sunrise

  • Feature Film
  • 2017

Feature Film

In an attempt to put haunting combat experiences behind them, two friends embark on an epic 2,700-mile trek on foot across America, seeking redemption and healing as a way to close the moral chasm opened by war. Almost Sunrise ...

Cameraperson

  • Feature Film
  • 2017

Feature Film

A boxing match in Brooklyn; life in postwar Bosnia; the daily routine of a Nigerian midwife; an intimate family moment at home: these scenes and others are woven into a tapestry of footage captured over the twenty-five-year career of cinematographer ...

From Damascus to Chicago

  • Short Film
  • 2017

Short Film

In the documentary short From Damascus to Chicago, two young Syrian siblings recently resettled in Chicago enroll in a dance class, while the film follows their family's experiences in navigating a new city and country.

4.1 Miles

  • Short Film
  • 2017

Short Film

In the Oscar®-nominated short film 4.1 Miles, Daphne Matziaraki follows a day in the life of Kyriakos Papadopoulos, a captain in the Greek coast guard who is caught in the middle of the refugee crisis in which Europe ...

Pink Boy

  • Short Film
  • 2016

Short Film

An intimate portrait of a gender-nonconforming child growing up in conservative rural Florida.

The Caretaker

  • Short Film
  • 2014

Short Film

The Caretaker is a portrait of two women who are outsiders in the place they call home. Haru is a 95-year-old Japanese-American migrant who was interned during World War II. Joesy is an undocumented worker from Fiji who cares for ...

StoryCorps Shorts: The Last Viewing

  • Short Film
  • 2014

Short Film

Allen Hoe tells the story of a chance encounter with a stranger who knew his son, Army 1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe, who died in Iraq.

Joe's Violin

  • Short Film
  • 2017

Short Film

In the Oscar-nominated Joe's Violin, a donated musical instrument forges an improbable friendship. 91-year-old Holocaust survivor Joe Feingold and 12-year-old Bronx school girl Brianna Perez show how the power of music can bring light in the darkest of times, and ...

Stay Close

  • Short Film
  • 2019

Short Film

Stay Close blends home videos and animation in an expressionistic montage to tell the underdog story of Keeth Smart, an African American fencer from Brooklyn who overcomes a gauntlet of hardships on his road to the Olympics.

Crisanto Street

  • Short Film
  • 2020

Short Film

In the shadow of Silicon Valley, a hidden community thrives despite difficult circumstances. For one resident, eight-year-old Geovany Cesario, impending change is bittersweet.

Reluctantly Queer

  • Short Film
  • 2020

Short Film

A young gay man from Ghana struggles to reconcile his sexuality and love for his mother through a series of letters in this deceptively simple yet powerful piece.

The Velvet Underground Played At My High School

  • Short Film
  • 2020

Short Film

This animated short recounts the Velvet Underground's first gig in 1965: in front of a crowd of shocked kids at a suburban New Jersey high school.

Gentlemen of Vision

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Gentlemen of Vision follows a year in the life of coach, counselor and founder Marlon Wharton, and his 2015-2016 class of young Black males as he strives to rewrite future prospects for his students. While striving for excellence in school ...

For Ahkeem

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Expelled from high school, Daje Shelton is only 17 years old when she is sentenced by a judge – not to prison, but to an alternative school, the Innovative Concept Academy. It offers Daje one last chance to earn a high ...

Agents of Change

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Agents of Change examines the racial conditions on college campuses across the U.S. in the late 1960’s, focusing on student demands at two seminal protests: San Francisco State in 1968 and Cornell University in 1969. Many of the ...

Finding Kukan

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Filmmaker Robin Lung documents her 7-year journey to uncover the efforts of Li Ling-Ai, the visionary but uncredited producer of Kukan. Lung discovers a damaged film print of Kukan, and pieces together the untold tale of the two renegades behind ...

Random Acts of Legacy

  • Feature Film
  • 2018

Trailer

Filmmaker Ali Kazimi finds a rare cache of deteriorating 16mm home movies spanning from 1936 to 1951, and deftly crafts a story of history and memory in Random Acts of Legacy. The family archive that Kazimi discovers was the work ...
SVG/POVCreated with Sketch.

Empire

  • Interactive
  • 2014
The Dutch East and West India Companies once controlled vast trading networks that stretched from the Cape of Good Hope to the Indonesian archipelago, and from New York to South America's Wild Coast. Although they came in pursuit of short-term ...
SVG/POVCreated with Sketch.

Fukushima

  • Interactive
  • 2014
A chronicle the ongoing recovery of the Tohoku region of Japan after the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown in 2011.Set three years after the calamitous meltdown, Fukushima: The Eternal Season, creates an impassioned portrait of a resident as ...

Engage with the issues

POV believes in the power of film to engage communities in dialogue around the most pressing social issues of our time. Use one of the film's accompanying resources to learn about the issues and get involved. Visit the POV Community Network to browse films available for screenings.

Reading List

The Distant Barking of Dogs Delve Deeper Reading List

Discussion Guide

The Distant Barking of Dogs: Discussion Guide

Lesson Plan

  • Grades 9-10,
  • Grades 11-12

Honest Truths: Ethics in Documentary Film

Film Credits

  • Simon Lereng Wilmont DirectorDBOD_director_Simon_Lereng_Wilmont.jpg
  • Monica Hellström ProducerDBOD_producer_Monica_Hellstrom.tiff

About the Film

Critical Acclaim

The Distant Barking of Dogs deftly weaves a precise coming-of-age narrative into its morally urgent anti-war tableau.

Guy Lodge, Variety

With help from

Related events

July 14
Screening

The Distant Barking of Dogs

Main Street Landing Film House
July 6
Screening

2019 Summer Film Series: The Distant Barking of Dogs

Monroe Township Library
July 16
Screening

The Distant Barking of Dogs

Ephrata Public Library

More Events

Press Room

POV: Women Filmmakers and Protagonists Seize the Spotlight in 32nd Season POV: 'The Distant Barking of Dogs' | Press Kit POV: 'The Distant Barking of Dogs' | Film Update POV Wins Historic Four Peabody Awards in Documentary Category
More from The Press Room

Broadcast schedule

Check your local PBS station
for upcoming airings of POV

More from this series

Learn more about POV