Films by Mark Michel

2023, 103 min
by Mark Michel

HERDERS – GUARDIANS OF THE EARTH follows five herders and their families in Peru, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda, India and Germany throughout the seasons. For months they trek through changing landscapes with their herds, living only from what nature provides. It is a life far from the romantic picture we have, a life under harsh conditions, in direct contact with nature and its extreme elements – birth, death, storm and sun, rain and drought are fundamental parts of their lives. HERDERS tells the story of their struggles for survival. Their animals are partners, even friends.HERDERS – GUARDIANS OF THE EARTH is a graceful and moving meditation on a disappearing life form. Tender and unsentimental at the same time. In landscapes of remarkable size and beauty, the film portrays the lives of the often invisible and marginalised pastoralist cultures that exist throughout the world. The film captures the beauty and hardship of this dying way of life, explores the deep and ancient union between people and animals, and tells of a way of food production and a way of life that gives more back to the nature and to humanity than what it takes away. There is a wisdom in the ancient practices of nomadic pastoralism that deserves to be preserved and protected. Time for a tribute. And a chance to rethink.

Germany 2017, 84 min
by Mark Michel

A film about the power of imagination. To lead her life, Veronika is completely dependent on the help of others, yet her exuberant interior world gives her strength.Since her earliest childhood, Veronika Raila has been living with severe physical impairments and Asperger syndrome. She can neither speak, nor walk nor fulfill her everyday needs without assistance. When she was a child, her IQ tested zero. Today she studies at university, writes poetry and prose and can express herself with facilitated communication. Veronika possesses a keen mind and a heightened sensory perception. Within Veronika spaces open where reality appears as colors, sounds and abstract shapes. She processes these impressions in her poems and stories.The documentary essay „Sand Girl“ takes us on a cinematic journey to the young author’s wondrous secret and captivating world. Through associative images, observations of everyday life and selected texts by Veronika Raila the film creates a space for touching encounters and moments of bonding. The focus is less on illness and impairment than the quest for the life force itself. A poetic meditation about what is often hard for humans to grasp, the nature of what we call mind and soul.„Sandgirl“ was produced in close cooperation with Veronika Raila.