''Rat Film'' is a 2016

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by American filmmaker

Theo Anthony Theo Anthony is an American film director, editor, and cinematographer from Baltimore, Maryland known for his documentary films, including 2016's '' Rat Film''. Anthony's work draws inspiration from the experimental film essays of directors such ...

employing techniques of essay and collage.

Subject

The documentary uses rat infestation in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

as a starting point to explore issues of segregation, redlining, poverty, and resource allocation in U.S. cities.

Premiere and screening

The film had its world premiere at the 2016

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

and its U.S. premiere within the 2017

True/False Film Festival True/False Film Fest is an annual documentary film festival that takes place in Columbia, Missouri. The Fest occurs on the first weekend in March (sometimes beginning in late February), with films being shown from Thursday evening to Sunday nigh ...

, as well as screening at festivals such as the 2017

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

, the 2017 South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival, and the 2018

Copenhagen International Documentary Festival CPH:DOX, also known as Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, is a Danish film festival focused on documentary films, held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since 2008 it has been run by Copenhagen Film Festivals, which also organize ...

. ''Rat Film'' had its television premiere as part of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

series

Independent Lens ''Independent Lens'' is a weekly television series airing on PBS featuring documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of ''Independent Lens'' were hosted by Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrenc ...

on February 26, 2018.

Nominations

''Rat Film'' composer

Dan Deacon Daniel Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. Deacon is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major elemen ...

was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score and director Theo Anthony was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film at the 2018

Cinema Eye Honors The Cinema Eye Honors are awards recognizing excellence in nonfiction or documentary filmmaking and include awards for the disciplines of directing, producing, cinematography and editing. The awards are presented each January in New York and have b ...

References

External links

* * * * American documentary films American independent films Documentary films about nature 2016 films 2016 documentary films Films set in Baltimore Films shot in Baltimore Films about mice and rats 2016 independent films 2010s American films Films scored by Dan Deacon {{nature-documentary-film-stub