| Abstract |
Wakhan in the Pamir region of Eastern Afghanistan is home to the last Kyrgyz nomads who live in the most isolated high-altitude community on the planet. Isolated in their mountain camps at 4300 meters above sea level, only 1200 of them survive as best they can. They live just a few miles away from three developed countries: China, Tajikistan and Pakistan. But history has closed the borders, imprisoning them on Afghan soil. There are no schools and no vehicles; there is no electricity and no cultivation here, not even a tree. While globalization threatens to swallow them up, the Kyrgyz people of the Afghan Pamir must fight for their survival, and to preserve their ways of life and unique traditions. Director Louis Meunier spent a whole year following these people, through the changing seasons. Among them, Abdul Wali would like to marry off his eldest son, Nematullah. But in Wakhan, a woman is worth 100 sheep and he can't afford the price. So he strikes a deal with a neighbouring clan and swaps his 18-year-old daughter for a wife for Nematullah. We discover from an insider's point of view how the Kyrgyz community functions, and the challenges it faces. Will these people survive here, or must they start looking for a future elsewhere? |
