Himalaya

In a remote village in the Himalayas, the wheat crop isn't sufficient to feed the people; salt has to be transported across the mountains and sold in order to survive. On the latest expedition, the old chief's son has died; Tinle, the chief, refuses to accept Karma, the obvious choice for leader, instead insisting his small grandson, Pasang, be the new village headman – this leads to a conflict during the next, dangerous, trek across the mountains.

The story of Himalaya is a timeless on. French director Eric Valli tells it like a legend, and it's one he knows well – a travel-writer and short filmmaker, he obviously loves this remote part of the world and the people who live here. It's a simple but quite affecting saga – the film's main pleasures lie in the way it looks. This is definitely a big screen experiences – the images of this mountainous landscape are always impressive, especially in one notable scene – evoking The Wages of Fear – in which the villagers, taking a short cut on a crumbling narrow track high above an azure blue lake, find themselves in considerable danger. The mostly non-professional actors give totally convincing performances.