All about service dogs and the folk they serve: Heddy Honigmann's lovely doc, BUDDY, opens

Hot on the heels of another fine, festival-favorite doggie documentary, Los Reyes, comes an equally good doc concerning service dogs (real ones, not these ubiquitous "emotional support" animals) and the disabled humans they serve -- in so many ways.

Written and directed by Peruvian-born, internationally-known documentarian Heddy Honigmann (who made that great doc Forever, about the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris), BUDDY takes us into the lives of six amazing service dogs and the equally interesting folk they assist.

Honigmann, shown at right, bounces back and forth between the six dogs/owners, and eventually we get quite a rich picture of these people, their animals, and the situation in which each of them finds him or herself. The subjects she chooses to question the humans about often provide entryway into more than that initial subject, and clearly her manner with humans and animals puts both at ease. There is never any sense here of the filmmaker prying or poking where she is unwelcome. And this serves to make the viewer comfortable and welcome, as well.

One man is an increasingly disabled veteran (above) with PTSD and a dog named Mister; another is a woman in a wheelchair who, with the help of her dog, manages to work and live and even produce ("He's my freedom!" she notes of her dog, Kaiko).

There's a young boy (below) who's somewhere on the autism spectrum, who, among other gifts, gets the necessary calming support from his dog, while a blind woman on her 80s, who seems perhaps the most physically active of all of these people, still runs like a teenager -- with the help of her dog, of course.

If you're anything like TrustMovies, you'll have long been impressed with what these service animals can accomplish. Still, by the time you watch as one dog actually turns his mistress over in her bed, pushes a hypodermic syringe into her body, takes off her socks and pulls up her blanket, you may wonder if you're suddenly in science-fiction land.

Yet unlike robots, these are animals you can also cuddle and love and who respond to that love. Aside from the real and very important work these dogs do, their emotional bond with their owners seems equally so. When one of the dogs suddenly dies, this'll hit you something fierce. Until you see and then further imagine what it has done to the dog's owner.

A shoo-in for any animal lover, Buddy -- in Dutch with English subtitles and running 87 minutes -- should also appeal greatly to those who work with or are interested in the lives of the disabled. Further good news: Grasshopper Film has just picked up distribution rights to Buddy. So, after its  two-week U.S. theatrical debut this coming Wednesday, March 20, at Film Forum (which has previously hosted five other of Honigmann's documentaries), it should play elsewhere around the country. This is a movie that ought to hit all the big cities and eventually stream everywhere else. Click here and then scroll down to click on Where to Watch to view all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters.

Note: The above "doggie bone," specially made for Film Forum, will be on sale at the concession during the two-week presentation of Buddy.

VOD debut: Melissa Dowler's service dog documentary, ADELE AND EVERYTHING AFTER

I can't imagine any animal-lover or viewer interested in service dogs not lining up to see a new documentary that has been quite a hit on the festival circuit and makes its VOD debut this coming Tuesday, January 30. ADELE AND EVERYTHING AFTER, directed by Melissa Dowler (shown below), is the story of a young woman named Marty who has had since childhood an unusual kind of heart disease that can cause her to suddenly faint at any time and any place, sometimes leaving her bruised, bloody and concussed.

As her condition worsens with age, affecting not only herself but her young child, and with no cure on the medical horizon, Marty turns to the idea of service dogs and what help this might render. As the documentary points out, she was the first person ever to use a service dog for this affliction, and while it does take some time for her to understand the dog's "signals," once she does, the fainting never happens again. Although Ms Dowler's movie has an odd arc (its emotional climax occurs maybe halfway along), the tale told here is so unusual and will so strongly appeal to animal lovers (of service dogs in particular) that recommending this movie as a "must" goes without saying. (But for god's sake, keep a box of tissues handy; you'll need them.)

Marty's history is provided via archival footage and some enacted re-creations, but the heart of the film is given over to this woman and the two dogs who most help her: the titular Adele (above, with Marty), the first of the two, and Hector (below), the second.

The wonderful organization, Canine Partners for Life, who supplies Marty's animals, is given a lot of screen time, too, and it is fully deserved. We watch, as the new owners learn to train their dogs and come to understand their "language," and how the dogs eventually respond with such full-out help that it's sheer amazement. How do these dogs manage it? It's not all that clear as yet, but what is clear is that they do it.

And they do this constantly: in the pool, on the walk, at home, at work. Amazing. Once Marty, and we, get over the upcoming loss of Adele and the change-over to Hector, you'll use less of those tissues. For me, the most upsetting part of the film was wondering and not knowing how Adele herself felt about the loss of her "patient." Of course, that's anthropomorphizing, isn't it? But this proves difficult not to do, when the animal figure is as important as here.

As Marty and her husband both tell us, because of what Adele and Hector do for Marty, they are closer to her than even her husband. This situation -- the bond between the service animal and the owner whose life the dog saves over and over -- will prove to be something new and different for most of us to consider, and this documentary does a very good job of bringing us up-close-and-personal with many of the details of the situation.

After viewing the doc, so impressed was I with the organization, Canine Partners for Life, that I am sending it a donation forthwith. Once you've seen this remarkable film, I suspect you may be moved to do so, too.

From Gravitas Ventures and Long Haul Films, Adele and Everything After hits VOD this coming Tuesday, January 30, and will be available on most major streaming platforms -- for purchase and/or rental.