Shear Magic

In March 2000, twenty teams from all over the world competed for the title of ‘world sheep shearing champion’ in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The event attracted shearers from Norway, Wales, Australia and Spain. A genuine coach was even spotted, accompanying one of the favourites, Elliot Nsombo from Lesotho. The world outside of South Africa is so completely different from Elliot’s remote village that he needs a guide. No matter how varied the competitors’ backgrounds, all the men have one thing in common: their passion for shearing, and for sheep. We see the participants prepare themselves for the tournament, carefully cleaning and whetting their tools and inspecting the sheep. It may seem banal, but when the heroes of shearing talk about their trade, it has an almost magical ring to it. One of them compares shearing to classical ballet; another talks about the importance of footwork for a good result. An experienced sheep shearer has a special relationship with the animal. To be sure, he wants to strip the sheep of its fleece as quickly as possible, but he knows he can only achieve this if he treats the animal properly and if it does not resist. The filmmaker followed some of the championship contestants back to where they lived and filmed a few marginal phenomena from the world of sheep, such as the election of ‘Miss Lamb’. By doing so, she has made a light-hearted and poetical documentary about a little known sport, which is rooted in farming and in which art and passion play a key role. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)