[IYRPsupportgroup] News: Pastoralism film festival + photo exhibition in Brussels

[Ann Waters-Bayer]

On 8 December 2022, a photo exhibition and films from CELEP’s “Perspectives on Pastoralism Film Festival” <https://www.pastoralistfilmfestival.com/> were presented in the Cinema Galeries <https://galeries.be/en/> in the centre of Brussels, Belgium. This event was organised by VSFB <https://vsf-belgium.org/> (Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Belgium), the PASTRES <https://pastres.org/> (Pastoralism, Uncertainty & Resilience: Global Lessons from the Margins) research project funded by the European Research Council, and CELEP <http://www.celep.info/> (Coalition of European Lobbies for Eastern African Pastoralism) in support of the IYRP2026 <http://www.iyrp.info/>.
The first edition of the film festival was launched in September 2019 in Kassel, Germany, with the aim of deepening understanding of this undervalued livelihood and food-production system. The second edition was launched in September 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic, with films selected by CELEP members Agrecol (Germany), DITSL (Germany), VSFB (Belgium) and African partners, foremost the Centre for Research & Development in Drylands (CRDD). Four of the selected films from CELEP’s film festival were screened in Brussels:
An afternoon on the pasture (Hungary) gives insight into the herding practices of László, a traditional Hungarian shepherd, and his dog.
Cowherds of the savannah (Uganda) shows how Karamojong herders in northeast Uganda manage to turn the sparse vegetation on the rangelands into meat and milk.
Shepherds of the Deccan (India) follows Dhangar nomads on the Deccan plateau in central India, where they face the growing threat of climate change.
Bayandalai: lord of the taiga (Mongolia) explores the largest forest on earth through the eyes of a reindeer herder in northern Mongolia.
After the screening, speakers from three continents commented on the films and shared their experiences with the public. Nitya Ghotge, veterinarian, writer and filmmaker from the Indian NGO ANTHRA <http://www.anthra.org/>, talked about the making of her film Shepherds of the Deccan and about these pastoralists’ challenges and expectations. Emmanuel Emaruk, the VSFB Country Director in Uganda, was born in Karamoja, where he works with local people to enhance livestock husbandry and veterinary services. Michele Nori, a tropical agronomist and rural sociologist with the European University Institute <https://www.eui.eu/en/home>, Italy, has studied pastoralist livelihood systems for 25 years and is the co-lead of the PASTRES project. This panel discussion was moderated by Koen Van Troos, the former Focal Point of CELEP in Europe, now with Fairtrade Belgium.
More information about the 30 films selected from the first and second editions of the film festival and the complete catalogue can be found here: www.pastoralistfilmfestival.com. Anyone who would like to organise a screening of films from this collection is invited to contact Anthony Denayer of VSFB (a.denayer at vsf-belgium.org <mailto:a.denayer at vsf-belgium.org>) for guidance and access to the films.
Photo exhibition “An uncertain world”
Increased market volatility, the climate crisis, rapid technological change, the spread of a pandemic – it’s difficult to keep up with the unfolding reality. And pastoralists are far from being spared. How do they navigate through such an uncertain world? This was the focus of the photo exhibition “An uncertain world”, presented in the exhibition hall of the cinema. A curated selection of images allowed viewers to discover the way pastoralists embrace uncertainty and meet the challenges of a turbulent world. The photos were taken by pastoralists and researchers collaborating in the PASTRES project research sites in China, Ethiopia, India, Italy, Kenya and Tunisia. Additional photos taken by members of CELEP and the IYRP initiative in Eastern Africa were also exhibited by VSFB. Additional information about the photo exhibition can be obtained from Roopa Gogineni (roopa.gogineni at gmail.com) and Michele Nori (michele.nori at eui.eu). See also the PASTRES online exhibition “Seeing Pastoralism”: https://pastres.org/2021/11/26/seeing-pastoralism-explore-the-new-online-exhibition/ <https://pastres.org/2021/11/26/seeing-pastoralism-explore-the-new-online-exhibition/>


  
Dr Ann Waters-Bayer
Agrecol Association for AgriCulture & Ecology
Coalition of European Lobbies for Eastern African Pastoralism (CELEP)
International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (IYRP2026) Global Coordination Group
E: waters-bayer at web.de / waters-bayer at agrecol.de
S: ann-waters
W: www.agrecol.de / www.celep.info / www.iyrp.info
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