People of the Wind

Rare indeed is the feature-length documentary that captures the migratory lifestyle of nomadic peoples and remains gripping throughout, as in the 1925 film Grass. Rarer still is such a feat duplicated 50 years later, with closely related subjects.

Here the Babadi clan of the same Bakhtiari Persians who appeared in the earlier film are seen as they move from one major seasonal campground to the other. Narrated by James Mason, the exploits, negotiations and thoughts of the headman, Jafar Qoli, give the film its structure.