“Nothing nourishes more than the land, nothing kills more than the sky.”

Nomads have lived in the Kham region of Tibet—now part of China’s Sichuan Province—for 4,000 years.  Breathtakingly beautiful mountains lead down into smooth green pastures, but at an elevation of 15,000 feet, this gorgeous grassland suffers brutal cold through all seasons save summer. Yet the tent of nomadic yak herders Locho and Yama and their chubby baby girl remains warm throughout. A testament to the filmmakers—–or the mettle of the subjects—the couple is unabashedly earnest, unusually at ease in front of the camera, and utterly endearing. Somehow, Yama makes raking yak dung a subtle art form; Locho’s vanity is quirkily charming.

Ultimately, this is a very modern love story set in the most traditional of ancient cultures.  The film deftly captures the young couple on the precipice; will they succumb to the lure of modern city life or will they continue to follow the yak’s tail?  WFM