Film Groups

THE MAN IN THE DOG PARK FILM

Dear Viewers,

The 14-minute animated documentary you are about to see is a small piece of a larger work on homelessness, based on interviews and encounters with scores of individuals who were living in the woods, on the streets, in shelters, and in their cars. The film focuses on one subject – “stigma” – and offers insight into how the way we think directly affects the outer and inner lives of people experiencing homelessness.

While sharing real stories of homeless individuals, the film ultimately asks us to look at ourselves.

• Read the companion chapter. For a taste of a reading that complements the film, a free chapter of the book (3: The Stigma of Being Homeless) is offered to you, courtesy of Cornell University Press: Link to download Chapter 3. This optional reading can be useful before or after viewing the film.
• Show the film.
• Consider your Response. After having watched the film, each viewer can think for a minute about his/her overall response; select one or more of the following phrases to consider.
  While I watched the film and what I saw when it concluded
  I was most surprised by . . .
  The most memorable part for me was when . . .
  I would say that I was most challenged by . . .
• Start a Conversation. You can start your discussion with your own prompts and/or by selecting questions about the readings and film provided by the author/writer:
  Questions for the film/chapter: Download film questions here.
  At the end of each question set, we also provide questions that other readers have submitted that worked well in their groups. Please contact us if your group has questions they would like to share with others.

If you’d like to hear more about the larger book The Man in the Dog Park: Coming Up Close to Homelessness and meet the authors more personally, check out this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/mDf4Kd3oExQ

Thank you for joining this conversation!