Space Dogs | Supporting Talents

Laika, a stray dog, was the first living being to be sent into space and thus to a certain death. According to a legend, she returned to Earth as a ghost and has roamed the streets of Moscow ever since. Following her trace, and filmed from a dog’s perspective, "Space Dogs" accompanies the adventures of her descendants: two street dogs living in today’s Moscow. Their story is one of intimate fellowship but also relentless brutality, and is interwoven with unseen archive material from the Soviet cosmic era. A magical tale of voyagers scouting for unknown spaces.

Directors: Elsa Kremser & Levin Peter

Elsa Kremser, born in Austria, studied Film at the University of Vienna and the Filmakademie Ludwigsburg. As an author and producer, she realized several documentaries that were shown worldwide. Her diploma film "Nebel" premiered at the Berlinale. She was a jury member of Visions du Réel and participated in the Nipkow Grand and the EuroDoc program.

Levin Peter, born in Germany, studied at the Filmakademie Ludwigsburg where he realized several documentaries that were shown worldwide. His diploma film "Beyond the Snowstorm" won the German Upcoming Film Award and was presented as a Guest at the Berlinale. He was a jury member at Visions du Réel and received the Nipkow and the Gerd Ruge Grant.

In 2016, Elsa and Levin founded the Vienna-based production company RAUMZEITFILM. As a directing and producing duo, they are searching for cinematic transformations of space and time.

Cinematographer: Yunus Roy Imer

Yunus Roy Imer, born in Zurich, Switzerland, studied cinematography at the Filmakademie Ludwigsburg. Working in documentary and fiction, he collaborated with directors like Helke Misselwitz, Sandin Puce, Özcan Alper, Levin Peter or Nora Fingscheidt. For Nora’s “Without this World“, Roy was nominated for the German Cinematography Award for Best Documentary. ‘’System Crasher’’, his first cinematographic work on a fictional feature, was picked as the German Oscar Candidate and won many awards worldwide, including a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival 2019. ‘’Space Dogs’’ continues the collaboration with Levin Peter and awarded Roy for Best Cinematography Award for documentaries at the Diagonale 2020.

Production Notes

Produced by: RAUMZEITFILM
In co-production with: IT WORKS
Shooting locations: Moscow, Russia
Camera: ALEXA Mini
Lenses: ZEISS Highspeed, Fujinon Alura Zoom
Grip: Master Grips
Camera & grip equipment provided by: ARRI Rental
Picture postproduction provided by: ARRI Media
World premiere: Locarno Film Festival, Cineasti del Presente, 2019

Official Trailer "Space Dogs"

Look behind the Scenes

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“Space Dogs” DP Yunus Roy Imer: “ARRI is sincere and reliable”

For “Space Dogs,” DP Yunus Roy Imer filmed in Moscow with stray dogs. In an interview the cinematographer talks about the difficulties of shooting the film, his equipment selection from ARRI Rental, and the color grading at ARRI Media—also in a video.