Living mountain

Pastoralism does not belong only to the past. From the crossing of the Persian mountains in “Grass: A Nation Battle for Life” (1925), to the shepherdess in present-day Montenegro who fights to protect her grazing lands from being turned into a military training ground in “To Hold a Mountain”, a century of cinema has captured both the strength and fragility of this way of life. “On the Road” and “Milky Way”, made nearly thirty years apart, offer an intimate look into the lives of Romanian shepherding families. Between departures and returns, we begin to understand what binds them to this exhausting way of life and what it takes to carry it on. “SweetGrass” immerses us in the pastures of Montana, accompanying shepherds along one of the last journeys to the mountains. “Wool Man Sheep” explores why tons of wool end up as waste and how they might once again become a resource. In the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, these films ask us what future awaits a world whose knowledge and practices might help us rethink the way we produce food and inhabit the land.