Baato

Mikma and her family collect medicinal herbs around their home nestled in the Himalayas of northeastern Nepal, before making an annual 300-kilometer migration, partly on foot and partly by ramshackle vehicle, to urban markets in the lowlands.

The extension of the first road to (and through) their off-the-beaten-path village is fitfully underway, promising less walking and perhaps a less arduous life in some distant future. Road engineers take bribes to avoid destroying homes, while laborers produce gravel — breaking individual stones by hand with hammers. The herb collectors plot to avoid shakedowns by police and bus operators as they miraculously make their way to market.

This documentary is a deep dive into a way of life that is in the midst of a slow and chaotic, yet inexorable transition.