Tribeca Film Festival 2010 Preview: Kim Chapiron’s Dog Pound

Tonight, for our Tribeca film preview, we’re presenting the trailer for Kim Chapiron’s Dog Pound. The film presents a look inside the violent and charged world of a youth detention facility, and if this trailer is an indication as to the overall feel of the film, it looks like a lot of fun. Perhaps not as ponderous, or gut wrenching as the recent Criterion release, Hunger, but there is definitely a strong artistic eye behind the camera on Dog Pound.

Dog Pound will be screening on April 24th, 25th, 27th, and May 1st. For a complete list of screening times and locations, visit the official Tribeca page for the film. To learn more about the film, and stay up to date, you can become a fan of the film on Facebook, follow the film’s Twitter feed, the directors Twitter, or visit the official homepage here.

Again, be sure to follow Rudie’s Twitter stream, as well as our own, to stay on top of all of our Tribeca coverage once the festival begins.

Angel, 15 years old (recidivist): assault and auto theft. Davis, 16 years old: possession of narcotics with intent to resell. Butch, 17 years old: assault on a correctional officer. The three are taken to Enola Vale Youth Correctional Center in Montana and placed under the authority and watch of Officer Goodyear, a strict but caring guard. Butch faces the prospect of adult prison and tries to keep a low profile’¦ until he and Davis become the subject of ruthless assaults by another inmate, Banks. Returning from solitary after they refused to rat Banks out, Butch challenges his attacker as the top dog. Like a bunch of strays locked up in the pound, the young men struggle to keep their bodies and spirits intact, but each act of violence swells ever more forcefully.

An electrifying cast delivers blistering performances packed with intensity and emotional punch that reveals the deficiencies of a well-intentioned but ultimately failing correctional system. Kim Chapiron (Sheitan, TFF ’06), one of France’s brightest emerging directors, powerfully evokes the grittiness of Alan Clarke’s 1979 juvie crime drama Scum to lend a contemporary glimpse into how more than 60 percent of the 100,000 children locked away in juvenile detention centers across North America become repeat offenders.

–Roya Rastegar