Sweetgrass - The Movie on PBS

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is airing the movie Sweetgrass on July 5 as part of its non-fiction film series specializing in social issues documentaries. Check your local listing for the run time in your area.

It is not likely that you will see a better film about herding sheep in Montana than this out-of-left-field documentary stunner. Filmed over the course of three years in the early 2000s, Sweetgrass takes you on a yearlong journey of sheep and the men, women and dogs who raise them. The film is composed of long, meditative takes, with no narration or direct address to the camera. Instead, you see timeless rituals: the lambing ewes, the frantic efforts to save sick animals, the shearing and then, most spectacularly, the summer-long overland trek to the sweetgrass of the higher elevations.

The movie trailer is available at www.pbs.org/pov/sweetgrass.