Hadamo

For the inhabitants of the Alps, work in the high mountain pastures signified earning their daily bread. That is why, up there, not only adults worked as shepherds and cheese makers, but also children, as shepherd’s helpers or pig tenders. Life in the Alpine meadows has often been celebrated in poetry and romantic literature, but many children experienced these summers in the shepherd’s temporary huts as anything but a celebration. On the contrary, they retain terrible memories. The fatique, the cold, the fear of the dark and violent thunderstorms, as well as terrible loneliness and homesickness are some of the recollections that these young shepherds kept inside for their entire lives. But not only the pitfalls of nature made these children’s lives so trying: adults contributed to their misery as well. Many are the stories of violence inflicted on children by shepherds. And these transgressions were always kept secret by the children, who feared repercussions if they spoke up. The terrified, sad expressions recorded in photographs of these little workers reveal the truth about one aspect of mountain life until now ignored and, finally, recounted in this documentary.