Winter Nomads

For four months, shepherds Carole and Pascal trek through the wintry borderlands of Switzerland and France in search of nutritious grasslands, accompanied by three donkeys, four dogs and eight hundred sheep. During their six hundred kilometer journey, they trek through inhospitable regions, snowstorms and along frayed edges of urban areas. In this almost meditative-like documentary director Manuel von Stürler shows how rural areas are being gobbled up by the modern world and what consequences that has. While Carole is new to herding, Pascal is the experienced traveler. He is one with his animals, but initially leads Carole with a firm hand, until he slowly learns to trust her. Von Stürler follows the duo closely for four months, without interviews or intervention on his part. Between snowstorms, ice rains and the occasional dinner at people's homes, the courageous shepherds find time for introspection and discussions about the world around them.