‘He isn’t just a pet. He is a character’: Black Dog director Guan Hu on filming an indescribable bond

“For anyone who understands China, looking at the past two or three decades, 2008 was a turning point,” says Guan Hu, the director of the feted new Chinese film Black Dog, which chronicles Lang’s attempt to build a fresh start just as China is also reinventing itself. Guan is referring to the “unparalleled pride” of the Olympics, but also the “immense sorrow” of the Wenchuan earthquake, which struck in May of that year, killing nearly 70,000 people. For Guan, there is power in writing about ordinary people in such an “iconic year”.