Time flows slowly on the misty slopes of the mountains in Turkey’s Black Sea Region, where shepherd Ertan lives together with his goats. His days are shaped by the rhythm of nature: in the early morning he heads to the mountains to care for his animals, in the evening he returns home to silence. What sets Ertan apart from other shepherds is his secondary occupation – less a profession than a ritual: knitting.  The process of shearing goats, spinning their hair into yarn, and, finally, knitting the yarn into socks becomes a visual metaphor for the ancient relationship between humans and nature. Tracing the Goats records, in a simple yet profound cinematic language, a way of life that resists the speed of modern existence, an understanding of labor that does not fit into gender roles, and a craft on the verge of disappearing. The film invites the viewer not to a loud, assertive narrative, but to listen to the whispers of nature, labor, and solitude.

Muhammed Enes Alıcı
Muhammed Enes Alıcı is an interdisciplinary artist working across the fields of communication, visual storytelling and the performing arts. He has a BA in Radio, Television and Cinema, and works actively in cinema, theater, documentary filmmaking, and digital media. His 2025 short documentary Tracing The Goats received the Special Jury Award in the Student Short Film Category at the 2025 Trabzon Film Festival.