Sister of the Dogs
Two lovers, Helena and Ingrid, who are involved in a relationship with sadomasochistic aspects and a wide age gap, are trapped in a labyrinthic building with layers of history and memory, where time elapses mysteriously. As we observe their intimate interactions, we get acquainted with their power dynamic, fears, hopes, and unusual longings.
"Very beautiful film, full of strangeness and emotion"
Elina Löwensohn, Actress/Director (Schindler's List, Boro in a Box)
"A visceral void."
Vera Hector, Filmmaker
"It’s subtle and suggesting. It’s feminine with so much mystery and depth."
Ash Borel, Poet.
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Helio LeónDirector
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Helio LeónWriter
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Helio LeónProducer
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Ruth BarryProducerAll You Need Is Death
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Jeanne Nicole Ní ÁinleKey Cast"Helena"Holy Island, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
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Laure LapeyreKey Cast"Ingrid"Boro in the Box, Bluebeard
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:Drama, Horror
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Runtime:20 minutes 17 seconds
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Completion Date:October 18, 2024
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Production Budget:32,600 EUR
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Country of Origin:Ireland, Spain
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Country of Filming:Ireland
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:5:3
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
Helio León (b. Madrid 1987) is an artist based in Dublin. Who’s written and directed several short films like Helena (Cork 2015), Night Journey (2019) and The Purple Room (2008/2021). His intimate photographic work has been shown and screened internationally at The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Noorderlicht, Krakow Photo Month, Slideluck Tokyo, Photo Kathmandu, and Marfa Open, Texas.
Sister of the Dogs was produced with the Irish Arts Council Project Award.
Sister of the Dogs is an exploration of power dynamics and memory. A vision of love in decay, seen through the lens of a relationship between two characters with a big age gap, Ingrid (38) and Helena (25).
The mansion where the characters live becomes a third character. A fantasy world in which they are trapped, repeating the same actions over and over. The film starts as it ends, suggesting a circular narrative with perpetual repetition. This is also implied symbolically by the womb-like, circular shape of the room where the characters live, alluding to the cyclic pattern of the relationship.
It’s as if the building is alive, full of memories and experiences of previous inhabitants.
The piece itself was filmed in a vacant building in Dublin called Aldborough House, located on the same street where Bram Stoker used to live for a period of time. Some scholars have suggested that this mansion models the fictional mansion of Dracula in the novel. It was very inspiring to film here since the space itself brought much to the story and atmosphere. It helped us to keep the vampiric and gothic aspects of this love story present.
The relationship between the characters has sadomasochistic elements, both symbolic and experiential. I can observe a power struggle in most relationships, which I believe is connected to childhood experiences with parents and ancestral trauma. I wanted to convey this in the film with tenderness and compassion, creating and exploring a oneiric reality, a world with its own logic. We travel through this building in a circular motion. Repetitively because so are relationships and life itself. The same repetition is in the family trauma that we then reenact in our relationships. Ingrid and Helena are modeled by the experiences of my friends as well as my own experiences in relationships. Their characters are a channel to express our collective struggle in love.
The film’s narrative is more concerned with the psychological interaction and dynamic between the characters than with the plot. The story can be described as a push and pull between both characters and a final reconciliation, similar to what would occur at the end of a rom-com. In Sister of the Dogs though, the comedic element has been replaced by an atmospheric horror aesthetic instead.