In Desi Oon, the Indian animator Suresh Eriyat gives voice to an unlikely narrator: the wool of the Deccani sheep, long central to the livelihoods of communities across the Deccan Plateau in India. This wool, which provides both income and material for a wide range of everyday items, is increasingly under pressure as shifts in the economy and land use disrupt traditional systems. Although India produces large quantities of fleece, much now goes to waste in a market dominated by imported wool.
This musical stop-motion film, animated entirely from the wool itself, highlights the cultural, ecological and economic significance of the fibre and the lives it sustains. At its heart is Balumama, a devoted herder whose life embodies generations of pastoral knowledge. Developed over a year, in close collaboration with herding communities, the film is playful yet deeply reflective, weaving song and texture to reveal the fragile beauty of a way of life under strain.
