Cat Stories

Worldwide stories of human-animal bonds, following pet owners and rescuers with dogs, cats, pigs, goats and birds of prey. Features interviews, archives and viral clips showing people's connections with their animals.

Celina y Chichi

Thomas Haemmerli is about to celebrate his fortieth birthday when he learns of his mother's death. A further shock follows when he and his brother Erik discover her apartment, which is filthy and full to bursting with junk. It takes the brothers an entire month to clean out the place. Among the chaos, they find films going back to the 1930s, photos and other memorabilia.

A documentary celebrating the island’s stray cats and the volunteers who show the large population unconditional love and support.

Edie Bouvier Beale and her mother, Edith, two aging, eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, are the sole inhabitants of a Long Island estate. The women reveal themselves to be misfits with outsized, engaging personalities. Much of the conversation is centered on their pasts, as mother and daughter now rarely leave home.

Crazy cat lady or world-class musician? You decide. Dorian Rence smashes our notions of what matters and who counts in "Feral Love." Dorian was the seventh woman to join the New York Philharmonic. In her 40-year career she has performed with all the greats: Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Yo Yo Ma to name a few. And she cares for a feral cat colony in the tunnels of New York City.

Johan van der Keuken explains, "Some fifteen filmmakers were asked to make a film series in a relay style for a very popular variety program on Dutch television: each new program was to start from the last image of the previous program, developing the story from that image. It was necessary to work according to codes of the crime thriller. I 'sabotaged' these codes, following a close-up of a pistol, inherited from my predecessor, by a series of comic observations of my cat, accompanied by a text on the need to innovate methods of expression and communication in cinema."

Billy the pet seal adapts to village life in Wereham, Norfolk.

Cats are the most popular pets in Europe, with twelve million living in Germany alone. And yet: hardly anyone knows how they live and what they do as soon as they leave their home. Where do they go? Martina Treusch's documentary takes a closer look at the nature and fascination of these popular animals.

Born on the street, Lenny was forced to part with her mother by an ignorant human being. Soon after she was abandoned and taken back to the road. Fortunately, she was saved, and lived in temporary shelters til she met her present butler. Lenny's butler and documentary film director, Hee-seop, who was tired of city life, decides to take the camera to tell the story of various cat butlers who are practicing "coexistence" in their own ways, different from his own.

The Standard of Perfection: Show Cats is a 2006 American documentary television film directed by Mark Lewis about the lives of show cats and their owners.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine created an avalanche of abandoned dogs and cats that are now multiplying causing unforeseen consequences.

What would happen if the world were suddenly without people - if humans vanished off the face of the earth? How would nature react - and how swiftly? On the edge of Europe, the deserted village of Chernobyl reveals the surprising answer after an unplanned experiment. Chernobyl was abandoned by people after the worst nuclear disaster in history (April 26, 1986). A level 7 meltdown resulted in a severe release of radioactivity following a massive explosion that destroyed the reactor. More than 20 years later, Chernobyl has been taken over by a remarkable collection of wildlife and descendents of pets that were left in the city when its residents fled the nuclear fallout. Unexpectedly in the aftermath of this disaster, Chernobyl has become a sanctuary for plants, birds, and animals, including some species thought to be on the brink of extinction.

A short film by Walerian Borowczyk in two parts. The first 'panel' follows the morning routine of Leon Boyer who, despite being almost 100 years old, still farms the land, drives a vintage car, and plays with his two dogs. The second panel shows shots of beautiful flowers and a cat, to a recording of Tino Rossi singing 'La romance de Nadir / Je crois encore entendre' from Bizet's opera 'Les pêcheurs de perles'.

A journey into the unique, often bizarre, world of Japanese cat culture. Cat themed cafes, bars, temples, cat islands, cats with human jobs, cat friendly businesses, and the origins of the iconic beckoning cat statue.

From pampered show cats to strays in Miami, NGC explores the human bond with felines and the killer that still lives in these beloved companions.

Cat experts explain the behaviors of domestic cats and how their sometimes undesirable actions are really innate instincts, revealing how closely they are still connected to their wild ancestors.

A desktop documentary about the online afterlife of the late French filmmaker, Chris Marker.

In this moving and informative documentary, the rescue me team goes to the United Kingdom to exam a local home-grown cat rescue and a larger national organization.

The life of a young female African lynx who lands in Cape Town after a long journey, learning to survive on the outskirts of the city among abandoned buildings, golf courses, and even elegant villas.