An Iranian Film Maker Shares a Thread About His Deaf Cat Fixated By a Movie

Former Village Voice film critic @BilgeEbiridescribed how his cat, Vixen, who is deaf, became transfixed by the film 24 Frames by the late director Abbas Kiarostami. The idea of pets being drawn to landscapes and animals on screen proved relatable.

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  • 01
    Product - Bilge Ebiri Follow @BilgeEbiri Here's a weird little thread about movies and pets. (1/9) 10:24 AM - 9 Jan 2019 951 Retweets 2,334 Likes
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 02
    Cat - Bilge Ebiri Follow @BilgeEbiri My cat Vixen, who is deaf, has never really shown much interest in movies. She doesn't seem attracted to screens, or even windows. Her brother, Penguin, who died last year, was a lot more fascinated by the TV. (2/9)
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 03
    Product - Bilge Ebiri Follow @BilgeEbiri But late last summer, while writing my Criterion essay for Kiarostami's 24 FRAMES, I had to watch the film multiple times. And lo and behold: (3/9)
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 04
    Text - Bilge Ebiri Follow @BilgeEbiri Vixen was utterly transfixed. She sat there watching the screen, then went up to it tried to get closer to the various animals and landscapes in the film. (4/9) V210 10:31 AM 9 Jan 2019
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 05
    Text - Bilge Ebiri @Bilge Ebiri Follow She even pawed at some of the birds, and even peeked behind the TV to see if they were there. (5/9) 10:34 AM 9 Jan 2019
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 06
    Text - Bilge Ebiri Follow @BilgeEbiri Now I let her watch the movie regularly. She never shows any interest in any other thing on the TV, but as soon as 24 FRAMES starts up, she's mesmerized again. (6/9)
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 07
    Text - Bilge Ebiri Follow @BilgeEbiri Which all makes perfect sense. Because 24 FRAMES is a great movie -- very haunting and beautiful -- and it's filled with striking landscapes against which various natural world vignettes take place. (7/9)
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 08
    Text - Bilge Ebiri Follow @BilgeEbiri And given how fascinated the late Abbas Kiarostami was with animals and nature, I think he'd get a kick out of the fact that his final work was my cat's favorite film. (8/9)
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 09
    Text - Kathryn VanArendonk New VORK UNION @kvanaren Follow Replying to @BilgeEbiri 1) this is lovely 2) my cat has only ever been interested in watching Planet Earth 10:41 AM - 9 Jan 2019 3 Retweets 125 Likes
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 10
    Text - ALICE Follow @astoehr Replying to @BilgeEbiri Our deaf cat Lucia had exactly the same reaction to 24 Frames! She shows occasional interest in the TV, but this one she treated like an actual window. My wife took a video: ash @sailor_P0ON Lucia hates 24 Frames lol 0:26 10:52 AM - 9 Jan 2019 10 Retweets 160 Likes
    via BilgeEbiri
  • 11
    Text - Rachel Klayman @trulyvery Follow Replying to @BilgeEbiri Our dog, Stella, has also never shown the slightest interest in movies. But when we watched a black-and-white French movie (I WISH I could remember what it was!) she watched with rapt attention the ENTIRE time. 1:28 PM - 9 Jan 2019 2 Retweets 38 Likes
    via BilgeEbiri

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