Scrolling the list of films about to show at the Tribeca Film Festival, one is curious to find this entry – 37 Uses For A Dead Sheep. A snuff film from the darkest regions of Wales? Curiously not.
37 Uses For A Dead Sheep is a documentary from British company Tigerlily Films. It follows the plight of the Pamir Kirghiz, a tribe of nomadic people who have, over the last century, been forced to migrate across Central Asia, from the U.S.S.R to China to Afghanistan to Pakistan and finally to remote eastern Turkey. Now, in the grips of the 21st century, the culture of this proud people is not at threat not only from geography, but also from globalisation, with many of the younger individuals escaping the rituals of the Kirghiz.
37 Uses For A Dead Sheep blends documentary with dramatic reconstruction to create an interesting faction piece. “But where the hell are the dead sheep?” we hear the Welsh corner ask. “Yes, where are they?” add several individuals from Aberdeen.
Well, although the title is a metaphor for the loss of the Pamir’s culture, one of the more interesting uses is the Pamir playing a type of horse polo with a sheep’s carcass. One rumour from the production team is that the tribesmen were annoyed by the film crew’s presence, and started hurling the titular dead sheep at the cameraman.
In one instance the Scottish cameraman can be heard swearing as the mutton is propelled his way. Rumours are abound of 37 Uses For A Dead Sheep imitation pieces, such as 98 Uses For A Mangled Cat and 114 Ways To Shave A Pelican’s Bum, but, having already won the Caligari Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival this year, it looks as though the future is not so dead for Tigerlily Films and director Ben Hopkins.
Read more:
Tribeca Review: 37 Uses For A Dead Sheep – Cinematical
[story by Andrew Rainnie]
carl says
i like dead sheep