Manuel und die Wolkenschafe

(Manuel and the Cloud-Sheeps)
by Sylvia Rothe
30', Mini DV, Germany, 2007

Manuel lives in a farmstead in the Val Senales, in the Alto Adige region of Italy. Here he grew up, learned to play, and to work. Despite his tender age he already milks the cows, cleans the stables, takes the sheep up the mountains and holds them in his arms to shear their wool. Manuel knows how to plant a tent, jump, run, learn, and study. His dream is to go to the seashore or to Gardaland, the huge amusement park on Lake Garda. Perhaps he doesn’t realize that his mountains are the biggest, most beautiful amusement park, where he is lucky enough to know how to build toys by himself and invent new games every day. Each year, at the end of June, he, too, follows the sheep from the valley up the steep, rocky trails to Otztal, in Austria. At his young age, Manuel is already an expert, proud and aware of being a true mountain dweller.

Sylvia Rothe
Born in 1963 in Hoyerswerda, Germany, she studied mathematics in Berlin and works in the computer field. In 2005 she shot and directed her first film.