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NPL, DEU | 2022 | Documenatry | 93 Min.| In Cinemas: 15.08.2022

A production of microcosmos film & CONKERTREE FILM

Language English (OV) German UT

Filmmaker Anna Baranowski & Michael Moritz

Camera Anna Baranowski & Michael Moritz

Distributor Mindjazz Pictures

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Stranded at the foot of the Himalayas -

How the inner journey begins when the outer journey comes to a halt.

Anna and Michael are in a limbo - between countries, hostels and pass roads. They don't need more than their backpacks can hold and are looking for freedom. What they have found so far are spectacular adventures. They call nothing less than the whole world home. But when the pandemic breaks out, the two globetrotters find themselves stranded in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world. Plans have been made for a long time, a hike around the Annapurna is on the agenda, they already have the visas for India and Pakistan in their pockets. But then the Corona lockdown surprises them. Their world tour comes to an abrupt halt. When the police seal off the cities, Anna and Michael flee to a small mountain village. There, at the foot of the eight-thousand-metre peaks, they find refuge and a corrugated sheet of metal over their heads. On the only walk permitted by the curfew, the way to the grocery shop, they are greeted cynically in the village with "Namaste Corona", because people fear that the travellers might be carrying the virus in their luggage. In the course of time, beggars, vendors and mountain guides become neighbours. Food becomes scarce, hunger sets in. Everyone has to go to the fields, to grow rice. They help build a stable for the ox, laugh at their clumsiness and experience a terrible storm that brings death. In the month-long lockdown, they gain insights into how the pandemic affects the lives of simple families and get close to the people and their individual fates. More and more, the focus shifts from themselves to the community in which they are stranded and of which they become a part. In the process, the two travellers change: from insecure people stuck in a foreign land to students of a philosophy of life that is close to nature and practises acceptance. Neighbours become friends - and the two become members of a community of destiny for five months.

The young filmmakers tell of travelling in Corona times, where solidarity is more important than ultimate self-realisation. A touching journey of discovery in the Himalayas and a stirring documentary about what can happen when you allow yourself to accept the unchangeable. The 90-minute documentary will be released in German cinemas in summer 2022. Info on the cinema dates will follow.

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