A man and his wife keep their three children away from contact with the outside world, and subject them to strange behaviorist experiments.
Writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos and his producing partner Athina Rachel Tsangari are two fresh voices in what is slowly becoming a New Wave in Greek cinema, which has not had a major figure since the heyday of filmmaker Theo Angelopolous in the mid-1990's.
Funding for film for young artists in Greece is often hard to come by, with little of the government assistance found in other European countries. Dogtooth was made for under 300,000 Euros, with many members of the crew volunteering their time.
Lanthimos treats his often absurd subject matter and imagery with a very clinical eye, favoring static, sparsely-designed compositions. The numerous shocking moments come with little build-up and minus the musical accompaniment found in most Hollywood fare.
Dogtooth screened at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category (created to "recognize young talent and to encourage innovative and daring works"), and won the jury's prize, which included foreign distribution money.
The film subsequently appeared at numerous international film festivals, winning various prizes, and its run culminated in a surprise nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, the first for Greece since 1977.
Running time is approx. 90 minutes.
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