Transhumance is the seasonal migration of livestock between valleys and high pastures and many sheep farmers still use this system today. Their transhumance, which lasts for three seasons and is conducted entirely on foot, is particular to Triveneto, and there is nothing similar in the rest of Italy. The farmers use only the marginal, natural resources available in the area to feed their animals. Many of the farmers are young with a sharp sense of business acumen; they drive nimbly through traffic or sit at the wheel of a large pick-up truck, yet they continue a timeless art, often one that has been in the family for generations. This film affords a glimpse of a job that many thought had disappeared and it also looks at the lifestyle and wisdom of this world.
Director
Valentina De Marchi
She graduated in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, using video as a tool to promote cultural biodiversity, local knowledge and the rights of native people and to encourage dialogue, listening and understanding of “others”. She has worked with shepherds in Italy, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. She is currently working on issues linked to the development of the mountains in the Belluno area.
Gallery