Paper short abstract:

<strong>Thu 15th Apr, 14:30</strong> A film that uses interviews mostly in the Tamang language to gauge the response of villagers to a road being built through their valley in Nepal to the Tibet-China border.

Paper long abstract:

A road is being built into Tibet to help relieve poverty in Nepal's northern districts, funded by the Asian Development Bank. The film journeys through the Tamang communities who will be most affected, to hear their reflections on whether the road will benefit them. It is a turning point for these communities, who have occupied a land of cross-overs - in trade, in religion and languages on the border zone between south and central Asia. The Tamang speak of mythological travellers, perform dances of warring armies, and discuss uncertain livelihoods, as this people of the border now face the momentum of globalisation with some scepticism.

The interviewees' use of the film for rhetorically registering how the road will affect the conditions of their lives, and their future possible relationships to others, presents many questions to the anthropologist, including their understanding of the power of film to communicate to others beyond the interviewer.