The filmmakers Maude Plante-Husaruk and Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis, in couple for ten years, have the sting of the trip. It’s the least we can say. After touring rural Tajikistan for their short film The Botanist (2016), they turned their sensitive gaze to the sublime Nepalese Himalayas, with Beyond the high valleys (2021), their first feature film.
The couple, who have visited Nepal on several occasions, had no idea what lay beyond said valleys before deciding to make a film of it. “We were on a trip, in a region of the country that was more developed than the others, and we understood that it was not because of tourism,” says Ms.me Plant-Husaruk.
They discovered that yarsagumba was grown there, a mysterious mushroom very popular in China for its aphrodisiac virtues, and above all, whose trade is very lucrative. “We learned that this product was sold for a fortune in China, that it was a symbol of social status, explains Mr. Lacoste-Lebuis. It was emblematic of a larger global socio-economic phenomenon. »
It is therefore this strange phenomenon that the filmmakers wanted to represent. Opting for an intimate treatment of the subject, they mainly followed Lalita, a 22-year-old mother, who joined a caravan of workers in search of a better life for her family. She embarks on a journey of several days, at very high altitude, harvesting mushrooms almost imperceptible to the naked eye, on her knees, around the eternal snow.
A temporary community is thus formed in the middle of the mountains. Dozens of workers set up their tents there and devote themselves to the laborious harvest. When not working, women cook or play with their children. The men, on the other hand, bicker, sometimes to charge their phones in the only electrified tent in the camp, sometimes to negotiate the value of their daily harvest.
Women in the foreground
We therefore recognize aspects of traditional Nepalese culture among the mores of the inhabitants, but this culture seems paradoxically dependent on global economic relations. “We wanted to expose the contrast between the conditions of the workers and those of those who consume their harvest,” explains Mr. Lacoste-Lebuis.
The filmmakers say they have consciously chosen to represent women more in this difficult context. “We were in contact with many women on the way, specifies Mme Plant-Husaruk. In their culturally traditional society, they experience difficulties that men do not know. Yet they have the same desires and the same dreams as them. »
Lalita, the protagonist, recounts with lucidity her anxieties and her hopes as a young mother. “She gave herself up in a very personal and intimate way,” explains the director. She had capacities for reflection and introspection, to reflect on her position in her village and in the world. »
Bursting with joie de vivre despite her poverty and her family responsibilities, she plans to one day settle abroad to offer her children a more prosperous future. “Often, in Nepal, even when women have an excellent education, they can no longer think about their career as soon as they have children, maintains Mr. Lacoste-Lebuis. We wanted to see what form feminism could take in a society that rubs shoulders with tradition and modernity at the same time. »
A story of trust
The couple also took on the challenge of gaining the trust of their stakeholders. Their daily life, their conversations are authentically represented. We often have the impression that they no longer see the cameras.
“Being a small team of two has really helped us build trust with people,” says Ms.me Plant-Husaruk. Before we started shooting, we took the time to talk to the villagers, to develop a relationship with them. We made connections with what we had in common. We talked about our parents, we sympathized around the snow in Canada, for example. »
The filmmakers also say the long filming time, as well as traveling with their subjects, living the experience alongside them, helped them. Along the way, they wove, according to Mme Plante-Husaruk, links that will last over the years: “The villagers surrendered, and we surrendered to them. It has become a magnificent exchange between humans. »