The Shepherd and the Bear

Set high in the majestic French Pyrenees, The Shepherd and the Bear explores a conflict provoked by the reintroduction of brown bears in the midst of a traditional shepherding community. The film follows an aging shepherd who struggles to find a successor as bears prey on his flock, and a teenage boy who becomes obsessed with tracking the bears. Through its breathtaking cinematography and immersive storytelling, The Shepherd and the Bear is a modern folktale about tradition, community and humanity’s relationship with a vanishing natural world.

"This film takes place in the Pyrenees, but it speaks to issues that affect rural communities everywhere. We are living through an era of radical and rapid change, not just environmentally, but also culturally. Urbanspaces account for less than one percent of land use but now house more than half of the global population. Across the world young people are migrating, leaving hamlets, villages and towns and moving to cities. The economic stresses of modern life atomise communities, sever generational relationships to the land and threaten the perpetuation of local traditions. Hard won knowledge developed over hundreds of years is lost in the space of one absent generation" Max Keegan, Director.

“A beautifully shot documentary... quietly observes his subjects, revealing a more nuanced picture of the complexities of rural life."

— ★★★★ The Scotsman