Far Beyond the Pasturelands
In a remote himalayan region, the villagers of Maikot are preparing for the harvest of a mysterious 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. As the whole village departs to the mountains, she joins the journey to the high-altitude pasturelands in 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 that put everything on the line for a chance to ascend to greener pastures. Will the harvest be good this year?
| Directors | Maude Plante-Husaruk, Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis |
| Actor | L'équipe des RVQC |
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This film is mesmerizing, that’s for sure. It takes us to dizzying heights where the Himalayas dominate, while also immersing us in the intimacy of a captivating community. My ethnographic gaze is fulfilled, captivated by the richness of daily life and by the ingenuity of these inhabitants in adapting to such an extreme environment.
We transhum with them and set out to meet this fungal being, originally a caterpillar, parasitized and transformed into a mushroom, considered a medicinal treasure: yarsagumbu.
This is the challenge of making a film far from one’s own culture: I want to go beyond exotism, while being aware of the representations we, as viewers, create. Consequently, I question what I perceive, interpret, and construct about this community. And in this context, the task is complicated by the fact that the relationship between filmmaker(s) and filmed subjects is invisible. While the beauty of the backdrop captivates us, it also brings with it the tensions that the yarsagumbu seems to embody, revealing economic and cultural transformations whose true desirability is hard to gauge.
Nevertheless, it’s a film-journey that I would share with anthropologist Anna Tsing, who is herself fascinated by the relationships between the fungal and human kingdoms (The Mushroom at the End of the World, 2015); I imagine she would enjoy it just as much as I do, because it brings into focus this fascinating yarsagumbu and the relationships it weaves.
Sylvie Lapointe
Filmmaker
Presented in collaboration with
-
Français
1h23
Language: Français -
English
1h23
Language: English
- Année 2021
- Pays Quebec
- Durée 83
- Producteur Maude Plante-Husaruk et Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis
- Langue Nepali, Kham Magar
- Sous-titres French, English
- Résumé court In a remote himalayan region, the villagers of Maikot are preparing for the harvest of a mysterious aphrodisiac caterpillar-mushroom worth more than gold.
- Mention festival New Visions Award · RIDM 2021
This film is mesmerizing, that’s for sure. It takes us to dizzying heights where the Himalayas dominate, while also immersing us in the intimacy of a captivating community. My ethnographic gaze is fulfilled, captivated by the richness of daily life and by the ingenuity of these inhabitants in adapting to such an extreme environment.
We transhum with them and set out to meet this fungal being, originally a caterpillar, parasitized and transformed into a mushroom, considered a medicinal treasure: yarsagumbu.
This is the challenge of making a film far from one’s own culture: I want to go beyond exotism, while being aware of the representations we, as viewers, create. Consequently, I question what I perceive, interpret, and construct about this community. And in this context, the task is complicated by the fact that the relationship between filmmaker(s) and filmed subjects is invisible. While the beauty of the backdrop captivates us, it also brings with it the tensions that the yarsagumbu seems to embody, revealing economic and cultural transformations whose true desirability is hard to gauge.
Nevertheless, it’s a film-journey that I would share with anthropologist Anna Tsing, who is herself fascinated by the relationships between the fungal and human kingdoms (The Mushroom at the End of the World, 2015); I imagine she would enjoy it just as much as I do, because it brings into focus this fascinating yarsagumbu and the relationships it weaves.
Sylvie Lapointe
Filmmaker
Presented in collaboration with
-
Français
Duration: 1h23Language: Français1h23 -
English
Duration: 1h23Language: English1h23
- Année 2021
- Pays Quebec
- Durée 83
- Producteur Maude Plante-Husaruk et Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis
- Langue Nepali, Kham Magar
- Sous-titres French, English
- Résumé court In a remote himalayan region, the villagers of Maikot are preparing for the harvest of a mysterious aphrodisiac caterpillar-mushroom worth more than gold.
- Mention festival New Visions Award · RIDM 2021
