Veranada (“summer pasture”) offers a glimpse into the lives of shepherds living in the town of Malargüe in the Argentinian state of Mendoza. One of the inhabitants, Don Arturo, is a tenacious gaucho who travels on his horse around the Andes Mountains to feed his goat and sheep. In this remote town, herders depend on one resource to survive—water—which nourishes the plants in the meadows, feeds the herds and signifies a rhythm of life that is familiar and promising. When droughts brought on by climate change start to pose a threat to the residents’ way of life, Don Arturo takes it upon himself to travel farther in search of more lush green grasslands. Set against the picturesque backdrop of the Andes, this quiet, meditative portrait of a place far away from city life welcomes us into the homeland of a community living simultaneously in trepidation and hope. —Mariam Zaidi
