The documentary The Shepherdess of the Glaciers follows Tsering and her flock of goats and sheep over the course of a year in the Gya-Miru valley in the Far Northern Mountains of Ladakh, India. Tsering at 50 is one of the last shepherdesses who still lives with her herd, and the youngest in her village to drive her 350 goats and sheep in this region of the Himalayas, located between 4,000 and 6,000 meters above sea level. Surrounded by this dry and desolate landscape, she lives under the continuous threat of wolves and snow leopards. Her brother filmed her exhausting work and documents the strong emotional tie between Tsering and her animals, showing a life diametrically opposed to the Western luxury industry which will use the Kashmir wool she produces.
Cosponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and the School of the Arts at Columbia University.
