Masters of Dox

In 2011, renowned multidisciplinary artist Laurie Anderson – whose eclectic career spans music, drawing, storytelling, performance, and more – suffered the loss of her beloved rat terrier Lolabelle as part of a succession of family deaths that also included her mother and her husband, the legendary musician Lou Reed. In this strikingly personal essay film, Anderson uses her close bond with Lolabelle to anchor her reflections on subjects as diverse as family memories, surveillance, and Buddhist teachings, with her own melodic voiceover narration overlaying a complex tapestry of images (including Anderson's own animations, 8mm home-movie footage, and lots of lovingly photographed dogs). Bringing to mind Chris Marker's landmark essay film Sans Soleil in its connections of disparate themes and images, Heart of a Dog is dreamy, comic, philosophical and intensely emotional – like Anderson herself, it defies easy categorization.