At an altitude of 5,000 meters in the Himalayas in the remote village of Dolpo, the elder leader Tinlé has just lost his oldest son who mysteriously died in the mountains. Accusing the young Karma for the death of his son, Tinlé refuses to let Karma lead the yak caravan with the salt loads. In this arid land, salt is sacred and a precious commodity to be exchanged for essential grains grown in the valley.

Karma decides to go against the shaman, Tinlé and the ritual date set for crossing the mountains, and heads out with the young villagers and their yaks.
The proud Tinlé, despite his over-ripe age, is determined that his clan keep the leadership and leads the rest of the caravan himself on the day established by the Gods with the aid of his son the Buddhist monk, his youngest son, and the other elders of the village.

This ritual mountain crossing becomes an ancestral duel in the heights of the Himalayas.

Eric Valli, director

"This film is based on the inspiration of the epic life of two of my dear Tibetan friends: Tinlé - a "cowboy", a man of action and combat, a chief, and Norbou - a religious monk and painter. Both live in the remote Nepal village of Dolpo, a region protected from political and geographical boundaries in the heart of the inviolate Tibet."

"Because it was essential for the story to be authentic, the writing was done in collaboration with Tinlé, Norbou and the other characters in the film. I speak of characters rather than actors since for the most part, they had no experience in front of a camera and play their proper roles. All of the characters could have been part of a Jack London or Joseph Conrad book. This film is a western, a Tibetan western, a timeless universal saga that tells the story of power, pride and courage."

"Nine months of shooting at an altitude of 4,000 to 5,500 meters in the depths of the Himalayas, it was a genuine physical and technical gamble and a splendid adventure for the 20 French technicians. The joys and frustrations as a documentary filmmaker quite naturally drove me in the joys and frustrations as a fiction filmmaker. I wanted to show the life of these men in the 'land of snow', their weaknesses, their beauty, their humanity." Eric Valli is also photographer and writer and made his first trip to Dolpo in the 80's. He made several books about this village. His photos have also been presented in several exhibits in France and the USA and he is a regular contributor to magazines such as Geo, National Geographic, Smithsonian and Life.

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