What can anthropology contribute to the study of transhumance today?
This is the question posed by the ethnographic documentary ‘Transhumant Voices’, which seeks to understand and showcase present-day transhumance on foot in Catalonia. From the curious, multifaceted perspective of anthropology, the documentary follows the communities and people who work in extensive and semi-extensive pastoralism today.
We travel through Arens on the border between Aragón and Catalonia, where we explore the changes that Josep Lluis Castel’s family farm and flock of 12,000 sheep have undergone over the years and touch on the bureaucratic problems affecting transhumance and the reality of migrant work. Then, we move on to Llesui in the Catalan Pyrenees in Lleida to consider the management of the commons, the problems relating to generational renewal and the perception of shepherds within society in recent history. Finally, we spend seven days walking with the transhumance revived in 2023 by Prem Puig, Eva Grau and Ecoxarxa de Mieres, which runs from La Garrotxa to La Molina and sports the slogan @transhumanciaxlavida. The revival of this transhumance on foot highlights the state of the paths trodden by the flock of 1,500 sheep, the multiple issues (tourism, bureaucracy, sickness, etc.) faced by the shepherds and the support that they receive from local councils and neighbourhood associations as they walk towards their destination: the pastures in La Molina that they have acquired at auction from the Catalan autonomous government.
Title: Veus Trashumants (Transhumant Voices)
Duration: 59 minutes
Original languages: Catalan and Spanish
Subtitles: Spanish and English
Director: Paula Escribano
Editing: Paula Escribano, Kim Hernández, Oscar Sanz and Xavier Esteban (AMMAC)
Camera: Paula Escribano, Oscar Sanz and Xavier Sibecas
Audio mixing and mastering: Yaron Weida
Colour: Nikita Routchenko and Daniel Mihalev
Finishing: Camile Zonca Produccions
Music: Marta Delas, Randellaires, Caramelo Caliente and Abdou Sarr
Produced with support from: FCRI (Joan Oró 2024 grant)
Song featured in documentary: Pastora de les muntanyes
Shot in Barcelona and Girona in the autumn and winter of 2022, ‘The Shepherd Resistance: Shepherding in Catalonia Today’ hears first-hand from four (semi)extensive shepherds, both male and female, how bureaucracy and public policies affect their lifestyle. We travel through mountains, valleys and forests with herds of goats and sheep to discover how the art of shepherding is at risk of disappearance. Despite its multiple environmental and social benefits, the shepherding lifestyle is currently being forced to adapt to the rules designed for the industrial production of meat and by-products in a process that is proving almost impossible for shepherds.
Title: The Shepherd Resistance: Shepherding in Catalonia Today.
Duration: 46,13 min.
Filming language: Spanish and Catalan
Subtitles: English and Spanish
Directed by: Paula Escribano
Production and Management Assistant: Agata Hummel
Camera: Paula Escribano
Production: Paula Escribano & Francisco Morgan
Audio Mixing and Mastering: Yaron Weida
Colour: Franciasco Morgan
Produced in Collaboration with: Pastorxs en Resistencia; Ramaderes de Catalunya,Department of Social Anthropology (University of Barcelona) and Institute of Ethnology and CulturalAnthropology (University of Warsaw).
Subtitles: Marta Rosell and Eleanor Staniforth
Music: Silvia Tomás Trío, Sisu Coromina y Jason Shaw
The Aim is To Get Moksha. Tradition and Modernity in the practice of Kalarippayattu in Kerala, India. (Julio 2022)
The Aim is To Get Moksha. Tradition and Modernity in the practice of Kalarippayattu in Kerala, India. (Julio 2022)
Kalarippayattu is a martial art that originated as a warfare technique in medieval Kerala. The members of the family institution Hindustan Kalari Sangam inherit Kerala’s ancient mythical and historical traditions. Today, the Hindustan Kalari Sangam is a Kalarippayattu training centre and Ayurvedic healing centre. Through their voices and daily activities, we explore how the institution’s members cope with the sociocultural changes taking place in a globalised world.
Title: The Aim is To Get “Moksha” (Liberation).Subtitle: Tradition and Modernity in the practice of Kalarippayattu in Kerala, India
Duration: 48,21 min.
Filming language: English & Malayalam
Subtítles: English and Spanish
Directed by: Paula Escribano & Eva Martínez
Script: Paula Escribano
Camera: Eva Martínez & Paula Escribano
Production: Eva Martínez& Paula Escribano
Audio settings and mastering: Yaron Weida
Colour: Enric López
Produced in Collaboration with Autonomous University of Barcelona, Autonomous SolidarityFoundation & Hindustán Kalari Sangam.
Content assistants: Amruta E.T & Monica Samuel
Music: Balakrishnan Raghavan
Peasants in Idduki. India. (En Producción)
Peasants in Idduki. India. (En Producción)
Filmed in Idukki (Kerala, India) in January 2022, the documentary relates the stories of 9 families and a farming community dedicated to the production of spices (cloves, pepper, cardamom…) for sale through an NGO that supports organic production. Through interviews and the daily life of the farmers, we learn about how climate change, wildlife (elephants and monkeys) and the value chain in which their work is involved, affects them.
"The Journey of My Life. Live story and migration from Mauritania to Spain (In production).
"The Journey of My Life. Live story and migration from Mauritania to Spain (In production).
“The journey of my life” is an intimate documentary based on a long friendship with Diacarou Soumare. Diacarou arrived in 2012 by boat to the Canary Islands. On the first attempt he was repatriated to Mali, from where he had to reach his village in Mauritania with hardly any means. On the second trip he was given €50 and put on a plane to Barcelona. Diacaro tells us what it has meant for him to live in Spain for 10 years without documents. In 2022 Diacaro spent 2 months with his family in Mauritania. Through his eyes we deepen on two very different cultures and how them coexist inside him. We approach the meanings of mobility, migration and borders. We talk about gender and family, as well as economics and politics.