37 Uses For a Dead Sheep

In 37 USES FOR A DEAD SHEEP, filmmaker Ben Hopkins explains the purpose of this unconventional documentary: “to make a film not about the Pamir Kirghiz but with the Pamir Kirghiz.” Originally from the mountains of Central Asia, the Kirghiz have been uprooted from their homes five times in the past century. To relate the tribe's troubled history, Hopkins intersperses personal accounts of the Kirghiz with both staged reenactments played by the Kirghiz and the oftentimes humorous attempts of the film crew to capture these moments. The journey of the Kirghiz from Russia to China to Afghanistan to Pakistan and finally to Turkey, where they have lived for nearly 30 years, was no easy task. Throughout their forced migration, they faced problems ranging from communist aggression to treacherous climates. While the elders of the tribe mourn the loss of their land and their tradition, the young look optimistically towards the future. Despite these contrasting perspectives, one thing is undeniable in the Kirghiz community-there really are 37 uses for a dead sheep. (In English, Kirghiz, and Turkish with English subtitles) – E.J.B.