Le cheval de l’Everest

(The Horse of Everest)
by Bernard Germain
53’, France, 2009

Gurmen, a young sherpa guide on Mount Everest, is trying to recover after a tragic expedition that cost the life of his brother. For this reason, he decides he wants to buy a horse to rent to the caravans of excursionists. His search for the animal becomes a true adventure across a Nepal in political turmoil. Destined to transport tourists to the base camp of Everest, Karma, the mare that he finds, has agile hoofs for those narrow, steep slopes, and should make a fortune for Gurmen, her master. But what should he feed her so she can cope with the lack of oxygen and the terrible cold? Will it be possible for her to live with the yaks along the routes? What will the Great Lama ask for to accord her a place in the Buddhist cycle of reincarnation? And will the riders she transports to the beginning of the glaciers pay a fair price to her master?

Bernard Germain
Born in 1947, he directs documentaries in addition to writing stories, novels, essays, screenplays, and articles. He is an Alpine guide and teaches audiovisual and cinematographic research at the Université de la Sorbonne. He holds frequent conferences on the themes of information, communication, documentary film, Alpinism, and the mountains of the world.