Winter nomads

Shepherds and their flocks are a favourite subject of documentary films. It is very rare, though, to find films which go beyond the picture-postcard imagery and examine the complexity of a practice such as transhumance. Manuel von Stürler, who is also a musician, has found in the times and places of this movement of humans and animals the ideal score for a composition made up of sounds and visual sequences.  His protagonists, Pascal and Carole, with three donkeys and four dogs, drive 800 sheep over a distance of 600 kilometres, braving snow, main roads, villages and fiercely defended private estates.  “It is a very demanding occupation and I wanted to record the gruelling reality of moving a flock of sheep. The shepherds are constantly on the look-out, and there is little respite. Driving a flock of 800 animals along a three-metre-wide trail with sown fields on either side that must not be trampled on is certainly not a job for any Tom, Dick or Harry” (MVS).

Luciano Barisone

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