Virginia Film Festival

Centering on celebrated musician, performance artist, and writer Anderson’s beloved rat terrier Lolabelle, who died in 2011, Heart of a Dog is a powerful personal essay of love, loss, and inspiration. The film weaves together childhood memories; video diaries; philosophical musings on data collection, surveillance culture, the Buddhist conception of the afterlife; and heartfelt tributes to the artists who inspire her. Fusing her own witty, inquisitive narration with original violin compositions, hand-drawn animation, 8 mm home movies, and artwork culled from exhibitions past and present, Anderson creates a hypnotic, collagelike visual language out of the raw materials of her life and art, examining how stories are constructed and told—and how we use them to make sense of our lives.

Supported by HBO