Covenant: a film about farm animals (and us)

43 minutes, in English, color, 2012

Over my three years of husbanding sheep at the Virtual Pasture, onlookers often asked me, “What kind of animals are those?” To answer their question I spent three additional years visiting farmsteads and agricultural fairs throughout Ohio while filming, Covenant: a film about farm animals (and us). In it we hear the voices of farmers reflecting upon the nature and economy of keeping livestock while, through it, a narrated poem calls attention to the anxieties and challenges of our human/farm-animal bond.

Covenant (trailer), 2:13 minutes

Covenant (feature), 42:35 minutes

Covenant (short) 2:13 minutes. This short version of Covenant begins silently and ends with a question, Where do we encounter farm animals now?

County Fair (2:53 minutes) highlights the show ring action during a 4-H livestock competition at the 2011 Wayne County Fair in Wooster, Ohio.

Related reading
Covenant: A Q&A with Artist Michael Mercil, by Colleen Leonardi in Edible Columbus, February 2013
Covenant Film Notes, by Rick Livingston for Wexner Center for the Arts, February 2013
Covenant Film Shows Farmers Care, by Tim White for FarmProgress.com, March 2013