Wiener-Dog tells several stories featuring people who find their life inspired or changed by one particular dachshund, who seems to be spreading a certain kind of comfort and joy. Man’s best friend starts out teaching a young boy some contorted life lessons before being taken in by a compassionate vet tech named Dawn Wiener (Greta Gerwig). Dawn reunites with someone from her past and sets off on a road trip picking up some depressed mariachis along the way. Wiener-Dog then encounters a floundering film professor (Danny DeVito), as well as an embittered elderly woman (Ellen Burstyn) and her needy granddaughter (Zosia Mamet) – all longing for something more.
Wiener-Dog is written and directed by Todd Solondz (Happiness, Storytelling, Life During Wartime), produced by Megan Ellison (Zero Dark Thirty, Her, American Hustle) and Christine Vachon (I’m Not There, Boys Don’t Cry) and stars Tracy Letts (The Big Short), Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise), Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha, Mistress America), Kieran Culkin (Igby Goes Down), Danny DeVito (Taxi, Twins, Batman Returns), Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Requiem for a Dream) and Zosia Mamet (Girls),
Wiener-Dog received critical acclaim upon its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where Picturehouse Entertainment acquired the film. Clare Binns, Director of Programming and Acquisitions for Picturehouse Entertainment, comments: “We are delighted to be releasing Wiener-Dog and working with Todd Solondz, one of the most consistently provocative and influential voices in American independent cinema. We were enchanted by the eponymous dachshund and his stellar co-stars, including the much-loved Danny DeVito and everyone’s favourite indie star, Greta Gerwig.”
UK Release date: August 12th 2016
