THE SHEPHERD

In the Emilia-Romagna Apennines, a silent conflict has been unfolding for years, made of blood and vendetta: the one between man and wolf. Roberto is thirty years old, a veterinarian. Together with his partner Giorgia, he has moved into an isolated farmhouse in the Vena del Gesso Regional Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a flock of sheep and three Maremma sheepdogs. He chose this life consciously, and has learned to share it with a wild animal that many fear but few truly know. The documentary follows him in the rhythm of his days: caring for the animals, the centuries-old chestnut grove behind his house, hunting wild boar. A life paced by nature, built with patience and knowledge of the land. Roberto speaks of the wolf without resentment: he respects it and lives alongside its presence as one lives with any other rule of the forest. The Shepherd is about a man who feels he is part of nature, who guards it and takes care of it because he belongs to it, just like the wolf. A fragile balance, built day after day, that the forest puts to the test every night.