The traditional shepherding contest in Hasanpaşa village requires shepherds to herd their sheep one by one through a pool of water. The shepherd who crosses the pool with his flock the fastest and with the least hesitation wins the contest. Hasanpaşa’s seasoned champion for the past eight years is Takmaz. In preparation for the upcoming event, Takmaz and two young shepherds go out looking for a special kind of red rock which is used in powdered form to dye the sheep red. They encounter a problem when they learn that a large mining company has opened a vast marble quarry on the site of the rock deposits around the village, making it increasingly difficult to access the rock. As a last resort, one of the young shepherds, Ali, ends up buying some readymade red powder from the city to use for dyeing the sheep that year. Disheartened after losing the contest, Ali decides to leave shepherding and goes to work as a driver at the nearby marble quarry.