Au-delà des hautes vallées (Far Beyond the Pasturelands)
Canada
2021
84 min
In an isolated Himalayan region, the villagers of Maikot are preparing to harvest the aphrodisiac caterpillar mushroom worth more than gold. Lalita, a young mother, had to let go of her dreams after getting married because of the social pressures of her community. She joins her whole village in the journey to the high-altitude pasturelands in the hope of providing a better life for her family through the hazardous harvest of the rare mushroom. Set against the backdrop of stunning mountainous landscapes, the film presents an intimate and humane portrait of characters who put everything on the line for a chance to ascend to greener pastures. Will the harvest be good this year?
Original Language
Nepali/ Kham Magar
Direction
Maude Plante-Husaruk/ Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis
Camera
Maude Plante-Husaruk
Editing
Maude Plante-Husaruk
Sound
Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis
Script
N/A
Producer
Maude Plante-Husaruk and Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis
About the filmmaker.
Maude Plante-Husaruk is a Canadian photographer and filmmaker whose work focuses on marginalized populations and human responses to adversity. For ten years she has been interested in the cultures of South and Central Asia, documenting inspiring humanistic stories of resilience and dignity, eager to show the common denominators that bring us together. Driven by the desire to master the arts of visual storytelling, she continues to work on long term projects in the region. Her work has been published in L’actualité, LaPresse+, The Atlantic. The last project she co-directed, a short documentary shot in Tajikistan called The Botanist, was nominated in numerous festivals (Hot Docs, TIFF Canada’s Top Ten) and won several awards, including Best Canadian short film at Montreal’s International Documentary Festival RIDM.
Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis, also known as Max LL, is a Canadian composer and documentary filmmaker who has been working in film and music for a decade. His compositions, known for their intricate blend of orchestral arrangements, ethnic instruments and found sounds, have been the soundtrack for numerous films and video games and recently performed by Montreal’s Metropolitan Orchestra. His co-directed The Botanist, his first short film, with Maude Plante-Husaruk, was screened at Hot Docs, TIFF Top Ten, and AFI Docs and won awards including best Canadian short film at Montreal’s International Documentary Festival (RIDM).