Usthi is giving away tickets for the movie “THE WALL OF SHADOWS”: A Sherpa family breaks a taboo and climbs one of the holiest mountains to earn the money for their son’s education. They lead an expedition along the eastern wall of Kumbhakarna, which has never been climbed before.
When director Eliza Kubarska took part in a high-altitude mountaineering expedition in Pakistan twelve years ago, she was shocked by the conditions under which the local people who carried the loads had to work. She recounts this experience: ” Their task was to carry bundles of loads weighing 35 kilograms to the base camp at an altitude of 4,000 meters. On the way they built camps out of stones and at night they covered themselves with plastic sheeting and warmed themselves by a fire. Every night I heard them singing. They rose ahead of us in the mornings, served us, pitched our tents and prepared meals for us. I was ashamed.” (Quote translated by Usthi).
Many years later, in the documentary “THE WALL OF SHADOWS”, she portrays the reality of a Nepalese Sherpa family. The film accompanies an expedition across the so-far unconquered eastern wall of the Kumbhakarna and shows the dilemma of the Sherpa family. The mountain is not only more challenging than Mount Everest, but in the local Kirant religion is considered sacred and must therefore not be climbed. The father hopes to earn the necessary money for the education of his son with the expedition. But the mother, a brave woman, objects to climbing the body of God. However, to enable her son to follow his dream of becoming a doctor, she finally agrees to lead the three foreigners up the mountain.
Eliza Kubarska shows how the family tries to cope with the pressures of making the ascent possible, the extreme conditions and their religious beliefs. She captures breathtaking images of the majestic mountain world, drawing attention to the spiritual dimension of nature and the environment, and highlights the harsh reality of the load carriers. Screenings start on 7th October in French-speaking Switzerland and 8th October in German-speaking Switzerland.
Usthi is giving away 15 tickets for the “THE WALL OF SHADOWS”. The tickets can be used for any screening of the movie in a Swiss cinema from Monday to Friday. Closing date for participating in the raffle: 7th October.
