Space Dogs

Space Dogs 

Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter, Austria, Germany, 2019, 91′ 

An insight into the lives of Moscow stray dogs (and other animals), today and in the history of space exploration, confronts us with the distinctly anthropocentric tendencies that humans have in their perception of animals and their lives, as well as our own progress and entertainment.

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, the film 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.

“This film is about the relationship of another species to us humans. A species that has been used in space history in two ways: both as an experimental object and as a symbol of courage and heroism. The dogs had to fulfil mankind‘s dream by conquering the cosmos for them. Their story became a fable, a nascent legend, of a bitterness that we chose to illustrate. Space Dogs is dedicated to these fables and legends, to unknown worlds and to their discoverers.” Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter

Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter are a filmmaking duo, also the founders of Raumzeitfilm, under which they independently produce their films. They began collaborating while studying film and have since made three feature films: the documentaries Space Dogs (2019) and Dreaming Dogs (2024) and the fiction film The White Snail (2025). All of their projects are based on years of detailed research dedicated to the social and psychological complexities of modernity.

Free entry, registrations at kino@agrft.uni-lj.si.

In collaboration with the Kino Otok – Isola Cinema Festival and UL AGRFT, with the support of the Austrian Cultural Forum.