An eight-hour slow-motion film consisting just of sheep grazing, with no plot, dialogue or actors has unveiled its trailer its red-carpet premiere.
The film, Baa Baa Land, is a 'contemplative epic', entirely starring sheep.
The American-financed, British-made film will premiere at the Prince Charles Cinema in London’s West End this September.
The film, says its trailer “is itself a meditation, a dream, an enchantment, a tonic for the soul.”
It is an example of “Slow Cinema”, a genre of art films known for long takes, slow pace and lack of action or narrative.
“It’s better than any sleeping pill – the ultimate insomnia cure”, says Alex Tew, Baa Baa Land’s executive producer and co-founder of Calm.
A cast of hundreds of sheep
Is it also the dullest movie ever made? “We think so”, says Peter Freedman, its producer. “We hope that audiences will too.”
“Baa Baa Land is the first screen epic entirely starring sheep. A cast of hundreds... all of them sheep. Count them if you can – but don’t stress if you can’t. Sit back, wind down, drift off ... to sheep.”
Baa Baa Land has no car-chases, explosions or star names. All it has is sheep and fields.
The film features the Welsh Half-Breed sheep of Layer Marney Lamb near Tiptree in Essex. The farm’s sheep graze on local parklands and water meadows at the low density of three ewes per acre.
Eight hours of baa
Baa Baa Land’s length of eight hours may put off some but it makes the film only the nineteenth longest film of all time.
It is five minutes shorter than Empire, Warhol’s 1964 film, and the same length as his 1967 work, The Imitation of Christ.
It is not the first time sheep have had a taste of stardom, an 85-minute film Addicted to Sheep was released in 2015.
The stirring film captures a year in the life of the tenant farming family who try to breed the perfect Swaledale sheep.
