Talking to the Air premiering in Kathmandu!

When I first dragged Sophie to Nepal to shoot our film, Daughters of the Curved Moon, she came across a book in the old Pilgrim's bookshop in Thamel, Kathmandu, about the horse culture in the district of Mustang. Sophie has a company, Horsefly Films and they have been making a series of stunning documentary films about rare horse breeds and equine culture. Her interest was piqued and she started doing research about this mysterious place and its history with the horse. Every summer, they have a spectacular festival that celebrates horsemanship called Yarthung Festival in Lo Monthang and Muktinath. She decided to make a film about the event and the rich history of horsemanship in this fascinating region of Nepal.


The film is called Talking to the Air : The Horses of the Last Forbidden Kingdom




Last summer, August 2013, before the Shakti team returned to Jumla for the fourth and final shoot, three of the team - Sophie, Nisha and I - travelled to Mustang. Tales of this epic journey were recorded on my travel blog - and now we have the first part of the behind the scenes film version of the very same journey:

WATCH THIS BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE OF OUR CRAZY JOURNEY. IT'S SO GOOD I DON'T EVEN MIND BEING ON CAMERA!

We were there with a partner company, Adventure Nepal and the wonderful Dipendra Bhandari, a film maker from Kathmandu that I've known for some time and his assistant Rajan. It was an amazing time shooting in Upper and Lower Mustang interviewing people about the festivals and about the horse culture in their communities. The terrain and geology is absolutely stunning. I took a lot of photos, some of which Sophie has cleaned the dust off and posted on the, Talking to the Air facebook page.



Sophie has been working hard on the edit this past year and the film is nearly finished. The  exciting part is we have having the world première - "official selection" no less - at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival - KIMFF! It's the biggest film festival in Nepal and I've been attending the last few years - very proud to be part of the team - it's my first film in a festival too! And in my home town to boot!

We are now in the very last stretch of post-production and have launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise the finances to get it all finished to present at the festival. Check out the video - it has some cool clips from the film. It's really close to the wire now - this platform has an 80% minimum so we need to raise at least $6400 to get any of the money!
ONLY 8 DAYS LEFT! CHECK IT OUT: http://www.seedandspark.com/studio/talking-air-horses-last-forbidden-kingdom

Post post

Since we finished shooting, the journey of post-production has gone through various stages. This process is a lengthy one. The blog has lain dormant while we have been immersed in that undertaking - partly because there was no breaking news, and partly because my focus was on the work and keeping up blogs takes more time than one thinks.

I went back to Kathmandu this past spring,  joined by the newest member of the Shakti team, Emily. She came over from California to help with editing the rough cut. So along with Hindu, our translator (who has now been working on the project for nearly two years), and Nisha, we transformed my flat in Kathmandu into a little post-production house/flat. Our dear production manager, Soraj was also on hand to come and help with translating Jumli and generally bring smiles to our faces throughout that period.

It was a wonderful productive and creative time and I am, as always, so grateful that I have these dedicated people around me. Some days, I would be translating with Hindu while Emily was editing a sequence, or Em and Hindu would be subtitling a sequence while I worked on some other clips, or Nisha and Hindu would be revising the Jumli while Em worked on her machine and (as there were no other computers to work on) I would go shopping! Nothing like learning how to delegate!

my Shakti gals

Em working in the other editing suite (aka the kitchen)

During this period, we have been assembling the pieces of the puzzle, carving the edges so they fit together and flow as we develop the story we are presenting. There is so much amazing footage and so many directions to go in or ways to share these stories, it has been a big task simmering it down. Some days it felt so overwhelming and others so inspiring. As with the whole project, post-production is quite a journey.

interrupting the work flow

Hindu, Nisha & Soraj  - love these guys so much

After six weeks of the post-production bubble we've been in, it was time for Em to go back to California and me to return to London. And so now on to the next phase.

Saying goodbye  -

Understandingly, people keep asking me when the film will be finished. I would love to know myself! There is still much to be done and it could take as long as it takes, if not longer... Hope that clears it all up!