The Last Dogs of Winter

The Last Dogs of Winter is a 2011 Canadian and New Zealand documentary film, directed by Costa Botes and starring The Tribe star Caleb Ross. The documentary follows Caleb Ross and Brian Ladoon as they explore the decreasing numbers of the famed Canadian Eskimo Dog and Brian Ladoon’s attempts the revive the species.

The Last Dogs of Winter
Directed by	Costa Botes
Produced by	Costa Botes Caleb Ross
Starring	Caleb Ross Brian Ladoon Costa Botes
Cinematography	Costa Botes
Edited by	Costa Botes
Music by	Tom McLeod
Distributed by	New Zealand Film Commission
Release date	6 December 2012 (2012-12-06)
Running time	97 minutes
Countries	Canada New Zealand
Language	English

Story

Man's best friend is living on the edge.

Eight miles from the town of Churchill, a tiny and isolated community on the shores of Hudson Bay, two endangered species have found a tenuous but workable co-existence. In a situation unique on the planet, giant polar bears, the largest carnivores on earth, share their ancestral earth with half wild Canadian Eskimo Dogs. ^[1]

This is the story discovered by a young New Zealand actor, Caleb Ross, after he went to Canada looking for love, but instead found a unique adventure and a cause.^[1]

Festival run

The documentary premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival ^[2] before going on a successful Film festival run between 2011-2012. Most notably, it won an award for “Best Canadian Documentary” at the Toronto International Film Festival. ^[3] Other achievements include being nominated at the likes of The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, HOLA Aunz Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival. ^{[3][better source needed]}

Critical reception

The documentary was received positively with Variety (magazine) stating the documentary was an "Intimate, gorgeously rendered docu intelligently surveys one man's quixotic mission, the numerous obstacles he faces and the uneasy co-existence of man, animal and nature in a small town. A wilderness lover's delight." ^[4]