Lucian Muntean

Mbambu is a sixteen-year-old girl who lives at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda. She is also an actress, an aspiring mountain guide and hopes to be the first in her family to complete secondary school. These are significant ambitions for anyone; in Uganda, they are nearly unheard of for a young girl. If Mbambu becomes a guide in the Rwenzoris - an impressive accomplishment in its own right because the mountains reach to nearly 17,000 feet - she would break all sorts of cultural and societal barriers for women in West Uganda. As this film tells the story of a hopeful Bakonzo girl, it also examines a culture transitioning from harmful poaching practices into more sustainable livelihoods.

In 2005, Punam Tamang is nine, living in the Nepalese city of Bhaktapur. She lost her mother when she was five years old and since that time she has been the family caretaker to her small siblings while her father works from dawn till night. Punam tells us her story and she introduces us to her family, neighborhood, teachers, and friends. Four years later, life has changed for Punam, who is now thirteen. What she and her siblings had managed to avoid has now become an inevitability: in 2009, her narrative takes us to the local brick-making factory.

This is a story of a 17-year-old boy named Hari Rai, who lives in a small village in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal, and his extraordinary journey. Hari is a student. However, he also works as a porter so that he could pay for his tuition and cover his living expenses. Although very young, he already has three years of experience carrying loads up and down the mountain, mostly tourists' backpacks. This time, he gets a job to carry a huge red refrigerator from the top of the mountain, to the nearest town. We follow Hari Rai on his journey through the fascinating Himalayan landscapes, we discover Hari’s inner life, his thoughts, hopes and dreams and we also get to know the culture and the local people’s way of life in this region.

This is a story of a 17-year-old boy named Hari Rai, who lives in a small village in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal, and his extraordinary journey. Hari is a student. However, he also works as a porter so that he could pay for his tuition and cover his living expenses. Although very young, he already has three years of experience carrying loads up and down the mountain, mostly tourists' backpacks. This time, he gets a job to carry a huge red refrigerator from the top of the mountain, to the nearest town. We follow Hari Rai on his journey through the fascinating Himalayan landscapes, we discover Hari’s inner life, his thoughts, hopes and dreams and we also get to know the culture and the local people’s way of life in this region.

Nine-year-old Punam Tamang, lives in Bhaktapur, Nepal. She lost her mother when she was five years old and since that time she has been the family caretaker to her small siblings while her father works from dawn till night. Punam tells us her story and she introduces us to her family, neighborhood, teachers, and friends.