Baato

Every winter Mikma and her family travel by foot from their village deep in the Himalaya of Nepal to sell local medicinal plants in urban markets. This year, construction of a new highway to China has begun in their roadless valley, and things are never going to be the same. Partially complete, the highway project will transform this roadless Himalayan valley permanently and open up a direct transport route between Nepal and China - bringing new challenges, new opportunities, and ultimately a new way of being to those who live along its path. This documentary film is a deep dive into a way of life that is in the midst of a slow and chaotic, yet inexorable transition. Through the subjects' experiences, a document of a time and place emerges - one that details life in the Himalayas before a new highway forever transforms this mountain landscape.