State of Dogs (Mongolian: Нохойн орон, alternately Nokhoin Oron) is a Mongolian movie that was released in 1998, directed and written by Peter Brosens and Dorjkhandyn Turmunkh.

[1] Set in Mongolia's capital city, Ulan Bator, the film combines documentary elements with fictional elements[3] in the fragmented, impressionistic and dreamlike story of Baasar, a dog who dies early in the movie — shot by a hunter employed by the city to reduce its dog population, which has more than one dog for each four humans in its population of 800,000.

[4] According to Mongolian legend, a dog (who is prepared) may be reincarnated in its next life as a human, after roaming free for as long as he wants.

[2] The film includes brief interludes with a solar eclipse, a segment in which a young man recites poems directly to the camera, and a depiction of modern Mongolian life with undercurrents of mysticism and myth.

[4] Garth Stein, American author and film producer, was inspired by State of Dogs to write his best selling novel The Art of Racing in the Rain.