Sheepdog Finals presents “Sweetgrass” at Crystal Theatre Sopris Sun Staff Report The National Sheepdog Finals presents the documentary “Sweetgrass” at the Crystal Theatre Aug. 28 at 2 p.m. and Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. “Sweetgrass, ” released in 2009, revolves around the final sheep drive into the Beartooth Mountains of southern Montana in 2003.The film was produced and directed by Harvard anthropologist Lucien Castaing-Taylor and was presented at numerous film festivals. The film was named Best Feature at the 2010 Play-Doc Festival in Spain; received the Audience Award at the 2010 Environmental Film Festival in Florida; and received an Artistic Award of Excellence at the 2010 Big Sky Film Festival in Montana. One critic, Jim Huberman from the Village Voice, said the film is “awe-inspiring … hilariously weird.” Manohia Dargis from the New York Times wrote, “ … Magnificent … wonderful … astonishingly beautiful.” “Sweetgrass,” a title taken from Sweet Grass, Montana, opens at a Montana sheep operation. Much of the film chronicles a trip of almost 150 miles through green valleys, across narrow ridges and past fields of snow. “Sweetgrass” is an unexpectedly intoxicating documentary, “unexpected because it blends high artistic standards with the grueling reality of one of the toughest, most exhausting of work environments,” wrote film critic Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times. Turan pointed out the director was invited on a sheep drive by Lawrence Allested, the last rancher in the area to undertake this kind of an annual journey from his ranch in Big Timber to pasture in the U.S. Forest Service’s Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. When a change in government policy
The film “Sweetgrass” follows a Montana sheep-ranch operation throughout a year, culminating with a 150-mile drive into the Beartooth Mountains of southern Montana. The National Sheepdog Finals presents the film at the Crystal Theatre Aug. 28-29. Courtesy photo meant that the ranch’s permits to graze on federal land were not renewed, the ranch ended up being sold in 2006. The film shows viewers a year in the life of this kind of ranch.The film’s crux is the sheep drive that gets the animals to pasture and the long days and nights spent with them up in the wilderness. “Sweetgrass” includes no interviews or voice-overs. “The only human voices heard are those captured in random snatches of conversation, like one of the ranch hands jok-
ing about why a cowboy’s brain would be worth millions on the open market:‘It’s never been used,’” Turan writes. When the flock reaches the pasture, two men are left to guard them, an old guy and a younger one.At one point, the young one tells his mother on his cell phone,“I’d rather enjoy these mountains than hate ‘em.” Turan concludes his review by writing, “Not only is the Montana landscape beautiful to look at, but the filmmakers have an unerring eye for impeccable compositions and
unexpected vantage points. Everything is done with the kind of restraint that is both the ideal complement to a grand physical setting and a fitting tribute to this disappearing way of life.” The film runs 101 minutes. The National Sheepdog Finals take place at Strang Ranch on Sept. 13-18. Proceeds from the gate receipts benefit the Aspen Valley Land Trust. For more information on the finals, go to sheepdogfinals.com.
Kids head to school on Aug. 29 Sopris Sun Staff Report Watch out for kids on bikes, kids on skateboards, kids in crosswalks, kids with backpacks, kids scrambling off buses, kids waiting for buses and kids tromping around in clusters because school starts on Aug. 29 at the regular start time. “Please, watch your speed in school zones,” said Carbondale Police Chief Gene Schilling. Students in the RE-1 School District won’t have to wait long for their first day off (Labor Day on Sept. 5) and Christmas break lasts for two weeks – Dec. 19-30. The last day of school is June 7, with high school graduation on June 2. In between, students in RE-1 schools get the following days off: Sept. 5 – Labor Day, Sept. 26 – IDD (teacher training), Oct. 17 – Fall Break, Nov. 11 – Parent/Teacher conferences, Nov. 21-25 – Thanksgiving, Dec. 19-30 – Winter Holiday, Jan. 2 – Furlough Day, Jan. 13 – Teacher Work Day Jan. 16 – Martin Luther King Day, Feb. 20 – Presidents Day, Feb. 27 – Parent/Teacher conferences, March 26-30 – Spring Break, May 10-11 – Elementary Assessment,
May 14 – IDD (teacher training), May 28 – Memorial Day. Through the year there are also 21 late days, in which school doesn’t start until 9 a.m. in order for teachers to meet with other school staff members. Those days are all on Monday and are: Sept. 12, 19, Oct. 3, 10, 24, 31, Nov. 7, 14, Jan. 9, 23, 30, Feb. 6, 13, March 5, 12, 19, April 2, 9, 23 and 30. The school calendar and other information is also available at rfsd.org. As for other Carbondale area schools: Carbondale Community School starts Aug. 29, with a back to school barbecue Aug. 31. For more information, go to compass.ccs. Ross Montessori School started Aug. 24. For more information, go to rossmontessori.org. Marble Charter School, operated by the Gunnison Watershed School District, starts Aug. 29. For more information, go to gunnisonschools.net. The Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork starts Aug. 30 for grades 1-8. For more information, go to waldorfschoolrf.com.
Members of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club motored down from Aspen for a workshop at the Third Street Center on Monday. The workshop, presented by Jazz Aspen Snowmass and the Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities, was presented to an appreciative full house. The Cuban band was in Aspen for a concert. Photo by Lynn Burton THE SOPRIS SUN • AUGUST 25, 2011 • 3