A family in remote eastern Nepal collects medicinal herbs, before making an annual 300-kilometer trek, partly on foot and partly by ramshackle bus, to lowland, urban markets. The extension of a road to and through their remote 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 observant film is a deep dive into a Himalayan culture in a slow and chaotic, yet inexorable transition; it plays like a classic observational study rather than a polemic on the perils of modernization. Those perils can’t help being front-of-mind, however, producing a pervading sense of empathy. LIVE Q&amp;A with the filmmakers April 22 at 530p PT. Co-presented by <a href="https://www.cafilm.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE</a>

Baato

Every winter Mikma and her family travel by foot from their village deep in the Himalaya of Nepal to sell local medicinal plants in urban markets. This year, construction of a new highway to China has begun in their roadless valley, and things are never going to be the same.

Baato Q&A

Based on the ancient shamanic rituals and animistic beliefs in Mongolia and Siberia, this animated short film explores the indigenous worldview and wisdom: Nature is the homeland of human being, Tengri is the deity and the father sky, Earth is the mother with rivers nourishing all beings, pagan and pantheist gods co-exist with all mortals. Against the backdrop of the modern existential crisis and the human-induced rapid environmental change, there is a necessity to reconsider and reclaim the ideas of animism for planetary health and non-human materialities. Co-presented by <a href="http://caamedia.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Center for Asian American Media.</a>

The Fourfold

LIVE Q&A with the Filmmakers of BAATO

United States of America

Baato plus Q&A (with The Fourfold)

Virtual Admission

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On Earth Day 2021 SF IndieFest kicks off an environmental film festival that keeps alive the independent spirit that launched the green movement. The festival will include award winning films about activism, wildlife and adventure. 

Here's what's coming up soon. Can't make it? No sweat. Many live streams will be available for on-demand viewing as well.