Dog Days (2013)

Dog Days: Directed by Laura Waters Hinson, Kasey Kirby. After losing his job in 2009, Coite Manuel sets off to build his dream business with the help of two unlikely women: Deane, his harp-playing aunt, and Siyone, an East African hotdog vendor and single mother of four. Staking his meager life savings on a vision to revive Washington, D.C.’s dwindling hotdog vending community, Coite faces bewildering challenges.

“This movie chronicles the complexity of entrepreneurship. Coite Manuel seeks to make his stake as he pursues his dream of selling hot dogs on the streets of Washington, DC. Seems easy enough, but he discovers that the world is full of syndicates, back room deals, and mountains of regulations that makes his path to success unlikely. Dog Days does a good job of showcasing the challenges of creating a niche within a wall of giants. It also crosses into the other side of the food truck craze. How social media and the foodie subculture creates a rush on particular foods that hurt the traditional hot dogs. It truly is a doggies dog world out there. I saw this film as part of the Atlanta Festival.”