Land of Sar

by Petra Seliškar

Dežela šarplaninca, documentary, c
Expected delivery: Q3 2023
SI, FR, MK

Zekir (20) and Zarif (16) are the eldest brothers in a family of shepherds. They spend half a year in the heights of the Sar Mountains with their younger siblings, along with their twenty shepherd dogs and five hundred sheep, while their parents stay back in their village. Life in their safe haven is precarious, but nature is gorgeous: “Just fresh air and joy”, Zekir says. And work. Hard work; daily work. There is no alternative: “If you want to stay here, you have to work”, Zarif says. And to work means to be a shepherd, as they have been since they were 6 years old. So, when the teenager begins to daydream about another life while scrolling on his smartphone, a question arises. If Zarif leaves, will Zekir be able to keep their trade, which has been handed down to them over many generations and which they have begun to pass down to the younger ones?

screenwriters
Petra Seliškar, Tancrède Rivière
director
Petra Seliškar
producers
Victor Ede, Petra Seliškar
co-producer
Sara Ferro
director of photography
Brand Ferro
film editor
Laureline Delom
production
Petra Pan Film, Cinéphage Productions, PPFP
co-production
RTV Slovenija
co-funding
Slovenian Film Centre, North Macedonia Film Agency, Aide Aux Cinémas Du Monde - CNC, Région Sud - Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Eurimages, Creative Europe - MEDIA
Petra Seliškar

Director, writer, and producer Petra Seliškar (1978) founded her own production house Petra Pan Film in 2003, focusing on creative documentaries. With her wealth of experience and talent, she has flourished as a filmmaker with profound insight, sensibility, strong narrative force, and an innovative approach. Seliškar’s filmography includes the following internationally awarded documentaries: Farewell (2020), My World Is Upside Down (2015), Mother Europe (2013), and The Grandmothers of Revolution (2006). Petra had co-produced more than 20 international films.