Greener Pastures
Learning to appreciate the work of the shepherds, courtesy of the documentary WINTER NOMADS in the Berlinale Forum.
Manuel von Stürler's WINTER NOMADS
Onscreen charisma is important for actors, but it’s also a crucial element in the subjects of documentaries. WINTER NOMADS (HIVER NOMADE, Switzerland) follows two Swiss nomadic shepherds, Carole and Pascal, on their journey as they herd 800 sheep, three donkeys and their shepherd dogs across Francophone Switzerland. The premise doesn’t sound too titillating, but Carole and Pascal subvert our preconceived notions of shepherds: they are smart, funny, strong-minded, and have a real passion for what is now considered an archaic profession.
The trip comes across as long and taxing, but Pascal’s decades of experience and calm demeanour ensure everything goes smoothly. They encounter many obstacles such as a donkey who collapses from hoof abscesses, yet they are never insurmountable. The shepherds’ energy and sense of humour, and Manuel von Stürler’s well-paced editing makes the whole experience quaintly humorous.
Transhumance (nomadic shepherding) has become more difficult in recent years, due to increasing urbanisation, which hinders the number of routes available to shepherds. One of the few tense scenes in the film involves a farmer who asks Pascal not to take the sheep through his land, but then explains that the road is also unavailable due to by laws. Later, Carole and Pascal talk with a friend about the scarcity of young people interested in shepherding as a career. Carole, who is much younger than Pascal, is asked by her friend why she joined Pascal, she says it was something she wanted to do after feeling stifled by urban life.
Carole and Pascal may be our human protagonists, but the true stars of the film are the animals, which director Manuel von Stürler fondly anthropomorphises. It's fascinating to watch the shepherds' intimate verbal communication with the animals, which ostensibly understand them (though I wouldn’t call them strictly obedient). If you like animals and think they have their own personality (no matter how much of it is your own self-projection), you will like WINTER NOMADS. If you have absolutely no interest in animals, their scenes will come across as silly, though you may still find von Stürler’s and the shepherds’ respect for their charges admirable, which plays a huge role in transhumance.
Like any niche profession, shepherding requires a certain ability to endear harsh conditions year after year but this does not preclude Carol and Pascal from finding humour in everything they do.
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