The Dog Doc

Its hard to get good health care for humans, but what about for our four-legged friends? With The Dog Doc, director Cindy Meehl offers a feature-length defense of integrative medicine, which combines the best of conventional medicine with alternative treatments (disclosure: Ive taken one of my dogs to a holistic vet, and Id do it again). The poster child for this approach is New York veterinarian Marty Goldstein, whose flashy canine-patterned shirts are a beacon for furry patients that other vets have written off, like Scooby, a dog with bone cancer in his jaw diagnosed with just months to live. For tumors, Goldstein uses a radical procedure: He freezes the tumor, which doesnt cure it but allows the animal to heal. But Goldsteins real target is the immune system. He believes that by changing an animals diet and introducing supplements, including doses of vitamin C administered intravenously, he can add years to dogs lives. Conventional vets call Goldstein a quack. One doctor met with Goldstein intending to debunk his claims, but when he saw how much one of his treatments transformed a dog that could barely walk, he became a convert. For dogs, Goldstein and his peers just might give hope to the hopelessif they can afford it. The film was scheduled for the Environmental Film Festival in March, one of the first events to go virtual in the pandemic, but its available now through AFI Silvers virtual programming. The film is available to stream at dogdoc.vhx.tv. $12. Pat Padua

The National Museum for Women in the Arts online D.C. Women Artists card collection spotlights five artists who shared a city but had vastly different perspectives. The printable cards provide background information on each artist, along with a series of insightful questions that prompt you to reflect on the works more closely: Notice the way Elizabeth Catlett played with light to reveal unspoken emotion in Two Generations. Georgia Mills Jessup played with light in Rainy Night, Downtown, too, but with more color and geometry; the result is an energetic portrait of the old 14th Street NW Trans-Lux Theatrethough you may feel a pang as the card assumes youre in the museum and says its location was about a block from where you are standing. Even more abstract is Alma Woodsey Thomas Iris, Tulips, Jonquils, and Crocuses. Individual petals may be difficult to make out, but her spontaneous brushstrokes and vibrant colors evoke flowers in movement. She isnt the only artist to reflect what she called her communion with nature. Anne Truitts Summer Dryad gets its name from the female forest spirit of Greek mythology, and Los Mailou Jones painted the valleys of France that sheltered her from some of the racial discrimination she faced in 1930s America. Scatter the cards around the room for an impromptu exhibit or assemble them on a wall to form a collage. However you display them, the cards offer a skylight into each womans Washington that notes the effects of their time, socio-economic status, race, and gender. The cards are available online at nmwa.org. Free. Emma Francois

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City Lights: Stream a Documentary on a Daring Dog Doctor or Dive Into Work by D.C. Artists - Washington City Paper