Life on Their Shoulders (Sırtlarındaki Hayat)

Life on Their Shoulders (Sırtlarındaki Hayat) is a 2004 Turkish-French documentary directed by Yeşim Ustaoğlu. The director developed the idea from impressions she gathered while working on Waiting for the Clouds, resulting in a 38-minute film about the harsh yet resilient struggle of a group of women from Turkey's Black Sea region.

The documentary is set in Topluca, a Laz village in the Fırtına Valley. Each summer the villagers set out with their animals along steep cliffside paths, migrating first to the Komati Plateau at 2,000 meters and then to the Büyük Kaçkar Plateau at 3,500 meters, returning by the same route when the autumn rains begin. The camera follows the women as they carry their loads through rain and fog, capturing the demanding rhythm of highland life.