Documentary: Into the Heart of the Mountain
About: ‘Into the Heart of the Mountain’ is a documentary about an western spiritual leader of Zen Buddhism and peace activist Roshi Joan Halifax on her path to empower women and indigenous people to preserve their culture and bringing spiritual and medical support.
Since 1980, each year a team of Western and Nepalese volunteers make a month-long journey into the most remote regions of the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau to provide medical and humanitarian aid. They are accompanied by Nepalese doctors and health practitioners. They train local healthcare providers to meet some of the healthcare needs of those living in these isolated mountain communities. The only way to access these areas has been on foot and by horse, and the journey into these areas has always been challenging. Due to the extreme climate and high altitude, everyone is forced to push their limits. Nevertheless, the stunningly snowcapped Himalayas and the breathtaking Nepal’s nature with it’s mountain people makes it so unique that more and more volunteers decide to face their fears every year.

We believe that indigenous peoples have the power and solutions to solve many of today’s problems if they are respected and empowered to do so. We can learn from indigenous people and their way of life. In our Western culture we have the loss of certain values. That’s why we have to keep looking at Indigenous peoples to learn or rediscover what’s really important in life.

The film will first be screened at film festivals, then TV, and worldwide distribution. Stay informed and subscribe to the By Nature Films newsletter

 

 

Documentary series: Life on the front line
Broadcasting: NPO2/ NTR
About: A portrayal of men and women from around the globe who have chosen to fight for their ideals, sometimes putting their own lives at risk, in order to combat injustice, exploitation or oppression. Some of them strive to preserve nature, some for equal rights for all.

Nepal – Girls as merchandise

Urmila Chaudhary is a Nepalese women’s rights activist and a former domestic slave under the kamalari system. At the age of six, she was forced to leave her family and was sold into domestic servitude. For 11 years she was exploited, abused, and forced to work without any compensation in the house of a wealthy, well-known family in Kathmandu. Upon gaining her freedom at 17, Chaudhary decided to fight for the many girls still enslaved under the kamalari system. She does this together with Plan Nepal/Nederland

Indira Ranamagar is a social worker and founder of non-profit organization Prisoner’s Assistance Nepal that looks after the children of criminal parents living in jails. Ranamagar took a deep interest in the welfare of prisoners and their families from an early age, and after becoming well acquainted with their struggles through various social projects, she founded Prisoner’s Assistance Nepal in 2000. Her continued work through the organization has led to the opening of four children’s homes, two schools, and various other social projects aimed at helping prisoners and their children.