Living in Nepal’s Khumbu Valley, two Tamang brothers have very different bonds with the
mountains: one, a porter for tourists heading to Everest Base Camp, aims to work as a guide.
The other, a Buddhist monk in a high-altitude monastery, aspires to become a great lama and
prays for his brother’s safe ascents. Both strive in their own ways to break free from the poverty
heightened by the booming mountain tourism business. Torn between their need to survive and
their dreams, they face choices that could change their lives forever.
The Khumbu Valley in Nepal stretches to the foothills of Everest and is home to four of the
world’s highest peaks. This unique region preserves ancient traditions of wisdom that regard the
mountains as sacred, while at the same time serving as a hub for high-altitude commerce and
the excesses of mass tourism. The film seeks to explore these paradoxes without judgement,
through the journeys of a monk and a porter, set against the backdrop of the 1952 Swiss
expedition to Everest. It invites the audience to reflect on our relationship with the mountains
and, ultimately, on our attitude towards the world at a time where urgent change is needed. Has
the era of eternal snows already come to an end?
“The Everest tourism scene and the spiritual power of the peaks serve as a backdrop to this
tender and intimate story of 2 brothers surviving in one of the earth's most extreme climates.
Selecting this feature for our festival was one of the easiest choices of the entire programming
process.” - Ciaran Shea - Director of Programming for Nottingham Film Festival
