Advertising man Mathyas (Félix-Antoine Duval) abruptly quits his marketing job in Montreal for the south of France with the romantic notion of becoming a shepherd -– a profession he naively imagines he can pick up from a second hand book or two. Of course the reality is less bucolic, more physically demanding and mentally challenging too: farmers struggling with endless economic setbacks, loneliness, wolves, disease… The shepherd is at the mercy of nature on the one hand and bureaucracy on the other. And yet, and yet, there is life on the Alps, and love too…
Adapted from a semi-autobiographical novel by Mathyas Lefebure (Where are you from, Shepherd?), Sophie Deraspe’s follow up to Antigone (2019) feels both elemental and intimate, effectively evoking the rhythms of land and nature, balancing the spiritual uplift with at rough count some 3000 sheep, one donkey, assorted hens, goats, and several life saving dogs.
Majesterial… as rejuvenating to watch as the effect of being in nature.
Stephen Saito, The Moveable Feast
Extraordinary… Stunning.
Brendan Kelly, Montreal Gazette
A touching, soul-stirring film.
Pat Mullen, That Shelf
Sophie Deraspe
Félix-Antoine Duval, Solène Rigot
Canada/France
2024
In French with English subtitles
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Credits
Producer
Kim McCraw, Luc Déry, Élaine Hébert, Caroline Bonmarchand, Xenia Sulyma
Screenwriter
Sophie Deraspe, Mathyas Lefebure
Cinematography
Vincent Gonneville
Editor
Stéphane Lafleur
Production Design
André-Line Beauparlant
Original Music
Philippe Brault
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