Filmed over several years, Daughters of the Curved Moon follows Nisha Budha who takes us on a journey to her mountain village in Jumla, a remote area of Western Nepal. A place where women’s lives and voices are still bound by ancient customs.

After six years of living and working as a trekking guide in Pokhara, Nisha returns to Jumla to visit her family.  Her first stop is her mother’s house.  Life is hard and women do most of the work at home and in the fields.  Nisha can’t help but challenge some of the beliefs and practices she watches of the Hindu societal structure that she witnesses.

Through Nisha we witness age-old traditions and ways of life. Her progressiveness and no-nonsense approach to life are in stark contrast with the rigid mores of her home where women do not share their personal stories.

This intimate and beautiful portrait of a forgotten region of the Himalaya, is also a young woman’s quest to break with tradition and a personal struggle to bring her community forward in the face of centuries of tradition. 

 

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