Baxter and Me

Nicki Alchin
20th Jul 2017

We all have a story. However, some of us have a knack of choosing to tell it in a way that is both delightfully accessible and playfully skirts around the “life story” tag by chronicling life events, including the highs and lows, through the recollection of those dear companions present at each stage.

Gillian Leahy, award winning Australian feminist film director, writer and film teacher best known for her AFI award winning essay film My Life Without Steve (1986), does just this in Baxter and Me. Gillian presents to us, a poignant, heartfelt exploration of her life by recounting the relationships and stories she has shared with her succession of canine companions over the years. 

Overall, the documentary’s focus is on the special bond that exists between Gillian and her dogs. It just happens that a dog has pretty much always been by her side, the one constant from a young age to the present with her big brown bear Labrador, Baxter. As she says “lovers have come and gone but I’ve always loved dogs”. Interwoven between reminiscences of her dark early days and a heady period of university life, the women’s liberation, inner city communal share houses, boyfriends, film school and a career in making and teaching films, Gill imparts the simple domestic ritualistic pleasures she currently experiences by living with Baxter. It’s a life of obedience classes, scampers in the dog parks, cuddles, treats, dancing, Inspector Rex and always unconditional love.

Sydney sparkles under the caring direction of Gill and the thoughtful skilful cinematography of Steve MacDonald. The serene dawning of a new day, a kookaburra trill, shimmering dappled light over Sydney’s inner west suburbia launches the film. This is where we first meet Baxter. He is lying spreadeagled snuggled next to Gill on a big double bed, her “dog of my now, my easy dog, my cute heart”, and slowly wakes Gill from her slumber with big happy licks so the morning routine of kibble, coffee, crumpets and the morning paper can begin. From there his story is told.

We get to see footage of the choosing of Baxter as Gill plucks him from the litter of other cute cuddly chocolate Labrador pups and then being zoomed over the Harbour Bridge in a basket on the backseat of her car. A handful of photos document his growth into current day Baxter. From there we go into Gill’s past to her very first dog Sandy Socks, a wonder dog, who was bought when she was seven in the hope of dispersing the severity of the asthma and eczema plaguing her. This didn’t happen but it began Gill’s lifelong love of dogs as well as the dreaming of a future.

Along the way we also get to meet Wombat the Corgi the ‘family peacemaker’, Shulamith (a male dog named after feminist Shulamith Firestone), Ajax who is never afraid-another wonder dog, as well as Bib and Baker father and son. Through all of these wonderful dogs, Gillian communicates the joys, tragedies and hard decisions of sharing a life with a furry friend.

Baxter and Me is definitely for those who have a soft spot for dogs but also for anyone interested in other people’s stories and their relationships, be they with humans or animals. Having been screened in the Documentary Competition at the Sydney Film Festival 2016, winning an AWGIE for best documentary script and nominated for Best Directing in a Documentary by the Australian Directors’ Guild, film junkies should also appreciate this refreshing tale of a life spent musing about and enjoying doggy companionship.

Baxter and Me will be released in cinemas across Australia via Demand.Film. Any person or organization can sponsor a film listed on the Demand.film site, create an event around it and then use their own social media network to sell tickets to their friends and online community. Demand.film, in turn, reserves the theatre, manages ticketing and ensures the delivery of the film. Once the ticket threshold is reached, the screening goes ahead and everyone just sits back and enjoys the show. The first screenings were held on 17 and 19 July to great praise.