Previously at the ICA - Films

Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Sweetgrass, 2009

Sweetgrass

22 Apr 20118 May 2011

★★★★ The Times
★★★★ 'Beautiful and hypnotic documentary' The Guardian
★★★★ Financial Times
Sight and Sound Film of the Month

A tremendously patient and awe-inspiring documentary that serves as a real-life contemporary Western – indeed, its extended title is The Last Ride of the American Cowboy. Filmmakers Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor shot for three years to capture a way of life that has now vanished, following a pair of veteran hired handsJohn Ahern and Pat Connollyas they herd 3,000 sheep 150 miles across Montana mountains for summer grazing. The film is doggedly real and unsparing in its attention to detail, while also finding an impressionistic beauty and abstract quality in this punishing pastoral profession.

A non-narrative film about a pair of shepherds and their sheep may not sound exciting, but this is as compelling and immersive as anything you’re likely to see in a cinema all year. And that’s just before the bear attack…

Released by Dogwoof

Dirs Ilisa Barbash, Lucian Castaing-Taylor, USA/France 2009, 101 mins, recommended 15 rating, 35mm (tbc)

When

E.g., 30-07-2021
E.g., 30-07-2021