Life Span of a Dog

Set in Palm Springs in the early 1970s, a young teen girl loses her father and descends into extreme grief. Not only that, she starts having flashbacks of a life she never lived, that of her father during his time in Auschwitz and 2 different work camps in Nazi Germany. Her only solace is found in Musical Theater as well as her only 2 friends at school. This is an autobiographical coming-of-age short.

  • Kenneth Andrew Williams
    Director
  • Cathy Reinking
    Writer
  • Kenneth Andrew Williams
    Writer
  • Synclair Maye-Key
    Producer
  • Ashylynn Price
    Key Cast
    "Laura"
  • Jomar Crawford
    Key Cast
    "Michael"
  • Kenneth Andrew Williams
    Executive Producer
  • Cathy Reinking
    Executive Producer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Coming of Age, Period piece, Drama
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 29, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    4K HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kenneth Andrew Williams

Kenneth Andrew Williams is an American screenwriter-director-producer with a European sensibility for film and art. Part of the reason for this aesthetic is that he is also a visual artist with a keen eye for color, form, and finding those “wow” moments that are emotionally compelling. He also cut his teeth in Zurich, Switzerland, where he directed commercials and the like for nearly a decade.

Currently, he’s a working director going back and forth between Atlanta and Los Angeles, who also writes and directs indie films. A lot of his content depicts a dark, troubled world. Life Span of a Dog is a departure from his usual fare, as it stars three up-and-coming teenage actors, one of whom portrays a young girl who is dealing with the loss of a parent and generational trauma, while finding solace in musical theater. He found the story so compelling and relatable, he was drawn to it immediately. He’s now excited to share this film with the world.

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Director Statement

I’m a Black male director and yet I found myself in this coming-of-age story of a young white girl in the 1970s. She is an outsider and not what she seems just by looking at her. She’s a first generation American with one foot in war-torn Europe and one foot in a tumultuous time not only for the country but for her tiny family, with not a lot of resources. In very subtle ways, it deals with huge topics like generational trauma, white supremacy, the Holocaust, poverty, desperation, loss, and optimism in the face of extreme grief.