Ireland on Sunday is our monthly showcase for new Irish Film.

Off The Beaten Track, directed by Romanian-born and now Galway-based Dieter Auner, chronicles a world untouched for centuries and struggling with profound change. Since joining the EU, Romanians are free to work as agricultural labourers and earn more in one month in Germany than a year at home in their traditional occupation, as shepherds.  

Against this changing landscape, Auner´s documentary introduces us to Albin Creta, teenage Romanian shepherd from Northern Transylvania. We experience a year of his life as he works shepherding, cutting hay, making cheese and dipping sheep, and the dark nights on the Transylvanian mountain. It is a tribute to the observational skill and sensitivity of the filmmaker that the subjects in this lush documentary seem entirely oblivious to the crew as it documents the small but significant changes in their lives.

Dieter Auner will participate in a post-screening Q&A.