Speaking in a recent Zoom interview from her home in Los Angeles, she said that she had been pitched the book as a film project even before Israeli author Asher Kravitz had completed his bestselling novel, called, The Jewish Dog.
“As soon as I heard that the novel was from the perspective of a dog during the Shoah, I knew: Whatever it takes, I’m going to do this,” she said.
The movie tells the gripping story of a Jewish family in 1930s Berlin who are dog lovers, but who are forced to give their dogs up for adoption after the Nazi race laws made it illegal for Jews to own pets. This is especially tough on the son of the family, Joshua (August Maturo), who pleads with his mother, played by Ayelet Zurer, to keep their German shepherd puppy, which he has named Kaleb (Hebrew for dog). Eventually, Kaleb is taken in by a Nazi dog trainer and becomes a watchdog at a concentration camp, the very concentration camp where Joshua is sent. But although Kaleb has been taught to be the enemy of the inmates, his love for Joshua remains and the boy and his dog enjoy a miraculous reunion.
Roth is no stranger to films with strong Jewish content. She wrote and directed the feature film, The Little Traitor, based on the novel, Panther in the Basement, by Amos Oz, which told the coming-of-age story of a Jewish boy (Ido Port) who befriended a British soldier (Alfred Molina) in British-Mandate-era Palestine, which won several awards. The daughter of a rabbi, she has spent a great deal of time in Israel, both before and after she filmed The Little Traitor in Jerusalem and taught master classes at Tel Aviv University.
Roth, who started her career writing for sitcoms and was the showrunner on the series, The Paper Chase, knew that Shepherd would be a challenge for several reasons. First, it dealt with the Holocaust, a subject not considered very commercial and so she had to be extremely persistent to get the money to make the film. Secondly, while she had experience working with actors, now she had to work with canine thespians.
But she was able to overcome both of these obstacles. Part of the budgetary problem was solved by filming in Hungary, a filmmaking center with locations that can double for many parts of the world. “Nes gadol hiya b’Budapest,” she said, paraphrasing the Hebrew phrase about a miracle taking place here during Hanukkah. “This production was blessed,” she said.
As for working with animals, Roth ended up enjoying it. “I have worked with such divas in my life, but working with these dogs was a joy and a privilege. I loved working with them. I felt like I wanted to hug them in the middle of a take,” she said.
KALEB WAS played by four different dogs; each of whom had a specialty. The main dog was Stella, who specialized in soulful glances at the camera, and “who was magnificent.” Stella truly gives one of the finest canine performances ever captured on film. “There was a dog who could swim and a dog who could growl and a dog that could look like it was attacking.”
Another difference between the dogs and humans was that, “When the trainers were blocking a scene with the dogs, they had to have full concentration with the trainer. There couldn’t be any noise or distractions. It forced everyone on set to shut up. It was like a collective meditative state.”
Of course, just like with human actors, the dogs had ups and downs, she said. “There were days when you yelled action and you just knew the dog was going to run in the opposite direction and it did. And it’s not like you can just say to the dog, ‘We’re going to call your agent.’”
But there were more good days than bad days and the four dogs worked out well. Roth also had good luck with her young star, August Maturo, best known for playing Auggie on the series, Girl Meets World. The actor, who is of Italian and Jordanian descent, had not heard of the Holocaust before making the movie. But Maturo is “exceptionally bright, he’s brilliant and he read and saw everything – that was appropriate – that he could get his hands on about it.” He read The Diary of Anne Frank and saw such films as Life is Beautiful and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
“I would say that he had some experiential moments where he felt what [it] is like to be a boy in the Holocaust,” she said. In one scene his hair was cut, which was difficult for him. “It made him understand what these children went through.”
His professionalism helped keep the production on track throughout the physically demanding shoot, much of which took place during the winter in Hungary. “He was so experienced, he knew about doing multiple takes. Sometimes he would say, ‘Can I do that again?’”
Referring to W. C. Fields’s quote, “Never work with animals or children,” Roth is glad that she ignored this advice.
The movie is having “a good old-fashioned release” in multiple cities around the US, including New York and Los Angeles, and is also coming out in Brazil and the UK. Negotiations are underway for a German release and Roth hopes that it will be shown soon in Israel, especially since the Israel Film Fund contributed some money to the budget.
While Roth acknowledges that these are difficult days for the American Jewish community, she said, “I’m glad the film is coming out in this time of antisemitism. I hope young people will see this now,” she said, so that they can learn the truth about Jewish suffering during the Holocaust.