IOWA VET: DOGS, CATS, CORN & MURDER Enters Final Week at Cinema Village

Iowa Vet: Dogs, Cats, Corn, & Murder, a new documentary by Michael Schelp and Bathsheba Monk, has entered its final week at Cinema Village, now through June 18. In the film, a veterinarian reflects on growing up on an Iowa farm, building an animal hospital in the big city, confronting the upheavals transforming his profession, and navigating the unexpected chapters — Murders, Mormons, and a Modern Family — that helped shape his life.

Dr. Alan Younkin was raised on an Iowa farm that has been in his family since 1863, an upbringing that inspired his lifelong commitment to animal care. After graduating as the valedictorian from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Alan moved with his wife, Dr. Sybil Younkin, to St. Louis, where the couple built their own animal hospital and raised four children while he navigated the rapid changes transforming veterinary medicine. After his wife’s death, Alan began an unexpected new chapter: he moved to New York, where he met and married a man, forming a modern family with his husband, Michael Schelp, a father of three. Along the way, Alan learned that some believe Zarahemla — the ancient city described in the Book of Mormon, a city believers say Jesus visited — was located on Alan’s Iowa farm.

“Iowa Vet: Dogs, Cats, Corn, & Murder is both a deeply personal tribute to my husband Alan, and a broader love letter to the Midwest,” says co-director Michael Schelp. “At its core, this is a film about change tracing the many transformations in Alan’s life, across agriculture, the veterinary profession, and his own personal journey. Along the way, we hope that audiences will encounter surprising, often humorous experiences that reveal both the unpredictability and richness of a life fully lived. At a moment, when the world feels in constant flux, this film explores enduring themes of family, faith, love, work, and adaptation.”