New Orleans Film Festival 2009

One summer in post-Katrina New Orleans, Michael, a 30-year old disillusioned school teacher, spends his time selling plasma to support his appetite for alcohol while dodging the responsibilities of his new house. Andy, one of Michael's students and his best friend, is a teenager with a predilection for explosives, an interest that he pursues freely as an unsupervised latchkey kid. Ashley is a failed artist working as a waitress who invades Michael's life by disrupting his karaoke performance at a local barroom. Their subsequent one-night stand evolves into a complicated relationship that threatens to eclipse Michael's friendship with Andy, who has girl problems of his own involving a tomboyish cohort. The characters in Sun Dogs are surrounded by blood, booze, fireworks, goldfish, karaoke, mistaken hearts, strange atmospheric phenomena, and a geodesic dome. Writer/director/producer Jason Affolder originally conceived of Sun Dogs while teaching at a public high school in Louisiana. The project was financed by money Jason earned working as a firefighter during Hurricane Katrina, produced while he was on injury leave recovering from a broken hand, and edited after his return to duty at various fire stations throughout New Orleans. Starring Matt Palumbo.