DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT 

Hounds is an extreme‭, ‬grandiose 30-minute movie‭, ‬in which regular‭, ‬low status women are the stars‭. ‬For one day‭, ‬the museum guards‭ (‬all of which are women‭) ‬get to be the center of the action‭, ‬and not just dumb dolls that stand in the corners of the halls‭. ‬Hounds is a psychological thriller disguised as a black comedy‭; ‬it tells the story of Iris‭, ‬a woman who has always been a good girl‭, ‬and yet life was constantly hard on her‭. ‬One morning she is told that she is about to become a supervisor‭.
‬A very low-level‭ ‬supervisor‭, ‬but still‭ ‬‮–‬‭ ‬a management position‭. ‬Iris’s fate‭, ‬however‭, ‬intervenes‭, ‬and the worst happens‭.‬

 

Hounds is a spiritual journey that discusses the fate of its heroine and other characters‭. ‬Iris is a mature woman‭, ‬who‭, ‬for the‭ ‬first time in her life‭, ‬is on track to achieve significant progress‭. ‬Nevertheless‭, ‬fate intervenes and brings everything back to‭ ‬its natural state‭, ‬where any reward life has to offer‭, ‬is simply out of her reach‭. ‬

 

Although the movie opens optimistically‭, ‬with a promise for a new future for Iris‭, ‬this optimism brings with it the greatest and‭ ‬most significant lesson of her life‭. ‬During this lesson‭, ‬she will have to face the essence of her pure character‭, ‬and decide whether to stain her conscience in order to progress‭.‬

 

The movie takes place at the day of an investigation of the worst museum crime that could happen‭ ‬‮–‬‭ ‬the breaking of one of the museum exhibits‭. ‬We get to meet a colorful ensemble of women who are greater than any piece of art‭. ‬Those are the women who usually stand aside and supervise while we visit the museum and gaze at art‭. ‬They stand so still that sometimes we don’t notice them‭. ‬These women turn out to be a group of lively‭, ‬joyful‭, ‬unconstrained‭, ‬sensitive and curious women‭, ‬who are also vulnerable and full of probably hopeless dreams‭. ‬Today they are the stars‭, ‬the whole museum their playing field‭. ‬Today they are allowed to shout‭, ‬curse‭, ‬make noise‭, ‬get mad and most importantly‭, ‬take a look at themselves‭.

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The museum management and the investigation team are presented as voice-only characters‭. ‬We hear them through the announcement speaker system‭, ‬without seeing them for a single moment‭. ‬This enables us to look only at the heroine and the group of guards around her‭. ‬The movie intends to be a penetrating close-up‭, ‬entering as deeply as possible into those characters’‭ ‬souls‭, ‬while they must live with a distant‭, ‬insensitive announcement system‭, ‬which reminds them of living in a reality show‭. ‬As‭ ‬if the museum has become a Big Brother episode for one day‭. ‬For 30‭ ‬minutes‭, ‬the guards are the most important‭, ‬splendid exhibits in the museum‭, ‬while the movie serves as their Hyde Park‭. ‬The movie is a psalm‭, ‬which praises those simple workers and turns their small‭, ‬transparent lives into poetry‭. ‬

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