The new CBC animal documentary Pugly: A pug’s life follows pugs as they go through the journey of rescue, foster care, and their next owner.
The Charlatan spoke with co-directors Michael McNamara and Aaron Hancox about their documentary. McNamara and Hancox have previously worked on other pet-based documentaries together, including Catwalk: Tales From the Cat Show Circuit.
The Charlatan (TC): What made you decide to do a documentary on pugs?
Aaron Hancox (AH): I’m definitely an animal lover, and my co-director, Michael and I, had such a great experience making our previous film called Catwalk: Tales From the Cat Show Circuit, and we just said, ‘you know, let’s keep it going.’ There’s something about animals that really makes people emote, if you take a documentary and you put an animal in their arms, and it’s their pet, they’re immediately going to be more emotional and more open. So, it’s very appealing for a documentary filmmaker to work with people that are really open with you and honest.
TC: What was the most interesting thing you learned while filming the documentary?
AH: I think I was actually a bit surprised by pugs. I had, admittedly, had an image of pugs before the film that they were kind of couch potatoes, but through making the film, I actually really saw that they are a very misunderstood breed, and that they’re actually very active if they’re raised the right way, and if they’re given the same opportunities as another dog . . . They’ve got a really great sense of smell as well, which is something which you don’t often associate with dogs that don’t have a long snout, so that’s something that was really surprising for me as well.
TC: Do you have any history with pugs in your life?
Michael McNamara (MM): No. I do have a friend—actually, she owns two pugs, so I get to see them whenever we get together, but I don’t have a personal relationship with a pug. When we were filming at the breeders’ place . . . we were following a breed of baby pugs from birth to a few months of their lives, and they’re pretty darn cute, so, while we were filming, I was really tempted, but I did not bring a dog home with me.
TC: What do you hope the general public takes away from your documentary after watching it?
MM: I think part of what I want to do whenever I make a film is to introduce people to a world that they didn’t notice, that was hiding in plain sight, they didn’t know anything about, and hopefully, they’re a bit curious about it. So, I want people to be intrigued, I want them to be talking about the film afterwards. And I also hope that people respond and contribute to animal rescues.
Pugly: A Pug’s Life premiers on CBC Docs POV on Jan. 11.
Photo provided
