Nomadic

Running time: 26'

Because a landslide threatens, yak herdsmen and their families in Kyrgyzstan will soon have to leave their traditional territory. They drive their herds through a seemingly endless snow-covered landscape of breathtaking beauty. The film team must have had a hard time keeping up with them through the snow drifts and across the ice. The focus is on the animals, and on one occasion they are almost engulfed by an avalanche. The people are often shown as a (small) part of an omnipotent natural world. It is not until the herdsmen and their yaks reach a caravanserai, where the animals are sold, that civilisation intrudes in the shape of inquisitive tourists and a blaring car radio. Nature has its limits – as does the lifestyle of the yak herders, as the film very nostalgically testifies.

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