OF SHEEP AND MEN DOCS D: Karim Sayad. Switzerland/France/Qatar. 78 min. Sep 9, 7:30 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 Sep 11, 3:30 pm, AGO Sep 16, 9:45 am, Scotiabank 7. Rating: NNNN
Sayad’s documentary feature – expanded from a 2016 short – looks at two men on opposite ends of the Algerian fighting-ram game. (Two rams enter and butt heads the first to flee loses.) Samir is a middle-aged veteran of the circuit Habib is a teen looking to break in, sending out challenges with boastful Facebook videos.
Shot in a flat, observational mode, the film immerses us in the world of its subjects, even letting the four-legged participants assert their own character. Habib’s ram El Bouq quietly becomes the picture’s breakout star, constantly frustrating his owner with his lack of interest. If a ram isn’t good at fighting, he gets sold for slaughter, so we have a rooting interest in his improvement.
Sayad builds a central metaphor of Algerians being treated like sheep by their apathetic government, but he doesn’t force it. He just lets us find our way to it between bouts.