Herd

A herd of shaggy Belted Galloway cattle is delivered to a neighboring pasture in the Catskills and instantly inspires a new film. The filmmaker’s growing fascination with the complex forces that propel the animals through one season to the next leads him to reflect on the modern idea of animal personhood. The cows graze and chew their cud, new calves are born, the mothers diligently safeguard their offspring, while the bull dominates the herd. Like humans, cows have distinct characteristics: some are giddy, some private, others wise and placid. Cows are sentient, but after centuries of domestication, do humans really have dominion over these complex animals? These questions have been asked for centuries: Aristotle believed that animals are purely instinctual, whereas Pythagoras believed that reincarnation moves souls from humans to cows. Michel Negroponte’s essay film is equal part rumination, observation, and meditation. The film reveals the cow’s essence and challenges us to think differently about our fellow living animal beings.