[IYRPsupportgroup] Hungarian film: An afternoon on the pasture with the shepherd László Sáfián

[Ann Waters-Bayer]

Dear all,

Here is a fascinating film that has been submitted for CELEP’s Perspectives on Pastoralism Film Festival but, as the film is already available on YouTube, we are recommending it even before the final selection of films for the festival has been completed. This is a completely different kind of film than the others that were submitted, as it takes the time to reveal how a herder in Hungary makes decisions about where and how he manages animals and pasture resources - in his own words while he is herding his flock for three hours of one afternoon. 

The film has now been translated from Hungarian to English and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noE0foCzd1Q&t=5406s <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noE0foCzd1Q&t=5406s>

The film was made by Zsolt Molnár (ethnoecologist, ELKH Center for Ecological Research, Hungary) and Sándor Karácsony (cameraman and filmmaker). Zsolt is a member of the European support group for the International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (IYRP). He and Sándor made this film not only in order to share the traditional knowledge of a Hungarian herder about livestock, pastures, herding dogs and livestock bells but also to inspire people to explore new ways to document and share the knowledge, values and worldview of pastoralists in other parts of the world. Similar narrated “slow" films would contribute to global-scale knowledge exchange by pastoralists among themselves as well as with scientists in ecology, range management, livestock husbandry and livestock behaviour, and with conservation practitioners, teachers, policymakers and the wider public. 

More information about the film, provided by Zsolt, is inserted below. 

Some info about the film

In this film a herder, László Sáfián, speaks about his pasture, livestock and dog, and the inextricable links between them; how he portions out the pasture and designs daily and weekly “menus”, how and why he uses iron and copper bells, how the family works together, and how he learnt and transmits this knowledge.

László Sáfián was born into a multi-generational herder family in Hungary. In this film he explains what he means by close-herded grazing on a high nature-value, semi-natural pasture, lying in a nature protected area.

With this film we are experimenting with ways of presenting the traditional ecological knowledge of herders in its original setting and with its original pace, using slow films and detailed herder-scientist dialogues, discussing the fine-tuned decisions the herder makes during this one afternoon, and also providing some socio-ecological context.

You can also listen to the original Hungarian version of the film to get a feeling of how the shepherd speaks in his native language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZfhjkQzRss <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZfhjkQzRss>

Or watch a recent podcast made with the herder by Sándor Friderikusz, a well-known talk show host in Hungary (in Hungarian with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANd4Y3gh0tA&t=2594s <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANd4Y3gh0tA&t=2594s>

Another film about another afternoon, this time with a cattle herder (in Hungarian with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX-KyKxW9z0 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX-KyKxW9z0>

And this is a media article about our friendship and knowledge co-production: https://www.valaszonline.hu/2022/05/27/laszlo-safian-zsolt-molnar-hajdusamson-hungary-shepherd-science/ <https://www.valaszonline.hu/2022/05/27/laszlo-safian-zsolt-molnar-hajdusamson-hungary-shepherd-science/>

— 
MOLNÁR, Zsolt
Botanist, Ethnoecologist / botanikus, etnoökológus
Traditional Ecological Knowledge Research Group / Hagyományos ökológiai tudás kutatócsoport
Centre for Ecologial Research, Ökológiai Kutatóközpont, Vácrátót, Hungary
https://scholar.google.hu/citations?user=jaShqB8AAAAJ&hl=hu <https://scholar.google.hu/citations?user=jaShqB8AAAAJ&hl=hu>

A recent publication: 
Molnár, Zs, Babai, D.: Inviting ecologists to delve deeper into traditional ecological knowledge. Trends in Ecology and Evolution
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534721001063 <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534721001063>

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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