Afghan villagers often share stories full of mystery and imagination to explain the world. The country’s mountaintops serve as a playground for children, who maintain gender separation even when no adults are present to enforce it. The boys practice fighting wolves with slingshots, while the girls secretly smoke cigarettes and play house. One of the girls is 11-year-old Sediga, about whom other girls whisper that she is cursed. One of the boys is 11-year-old Qodrat, who is also the subject of gossip because his father died and his mother married an old man who already had two wives. The two become friends on the mountain. Wolf and Sheep, winner of Directors’ Fortnight’s top prize, begins with a documentary-like scene showing the slaughter of a lamb, then continues to show daily life in an Afghan village. But the director doesn’t just film reality. The nighttime is reserved for mysterious imaginations, which highlight the “stories” that are very much a part of their lives and at the same time add a poetic element. The film is like a magical essay about the landscape of human life untouched by industrialization.(RHEE Souewon)