This is the first film from Sarah Cooke but far from her first foray into foreign lands; her background as a photographer has taken her to remote villages throughout the Himalayas and beyond. This time, she follows the Redfern family, capturing their story with a different sort of camera, documenting their journey from Britain to Tibet in order to take shoes to underprivileged children. The story is told from the perspective of Alethea, the eight year old daughter. The family trek through often perilous conditions, over rivers and through rainforests, contending with the elements. They also have to confront life without the modern conveniences they previously took for granted as they attempt to survive for weeks in the cold and the wet, assisted and supported by their guides and Sherpas. The contrast in their physical environment brings into sharp focus for Alethea the disparity between the West’s focus on wealth and the materially impoverished but culturally privileged and politically endangered Tibetans. The exchange of shoes provides the film’s thematic metaphor, provoking Alethea to wonder what it would be like to put Westerners in the shoes of the Tibetans rather than the other way round and to question the value systems which define and separate our different societies. KM

Playing with KUMARI: THE LIVING GODDESSES OF NEPAL

Country UK Running Time 26 mins Format MiniDV Director/Producer/DoP Tassia Kobylinska Print Source Roving Eye Film E tkobylinska@candi.ac.uk