Does the horse have to work, too?

According to Valeria, the special thing about shepherding is how you do everything yourself – from the birthing to the rearing of sheep, and sometimes including slaughter. Valeria is a itinerant shepherd. She is the filmmaker Leonhard Pill's sister and the focus of his film. Valeria leads a life that starkly differs in every conceivable way from that of her siblings – in addition to Leonhard, she has a sister by the name of Fidelia. Valeria lives in a mobile home without running water and survives on the minimum wage. She works outdoors under all conditions with her dogs amidst the sheep. She scouts out available pastures – meaning feeding grounds –, spins wool, serves as midwife delivering lambs into the world, trims hooves, slaughters, cuddles with sheep, speaks to and watches over them, smoking cigarettes all the while. Yes: Valeria does everything herself, even makes birthday gifts for her siblings – at least when she gets an idea. And enough time.

In Does the horse have to work, too? Leonhard Pill vividly portrays his sister as a woman whose life revolves around her job every hour of every day, all year round. His calm and concentrated imagery reflects her laconic, no-nonsense attitude to life. He often keeps a distance – like the dogs who stand back and watch. This film is not a search for beauty or the idyllic, nor a destruction of either. If anything, it is about the siblings' search for each other, for mutual understanding – a search that involves overcoming obstacles. Conversations between Fidelia and Valeria are at times awkward. The shepherd doesn't really feel like talking. She builds fences for her flock, literally setting boundaries. Against “fake news” about sheep farming and the accusations of vegan city dwellers. Social networks and identity politics in 2025 invariably play a role. Extreme close-ups of the sheep chomping away and their loud incessant bleating lend the film a material, almost tactile quality. “Everyone has to do something,” Valeria says at the end, “that's just how it is." (Sylvia Szely)

Translation: Eve Heller