3 reasons why you must watch Walking With The Wind at Habitat Film Festival

A boy, a donkey and a broken chair. What do they all have in common? They're all essential parts of Praveen Morchhale's story set in Yangthang village. Young Tsering (an excellent Sonam Wangyal) breaks the school chair of his classmate and carries it back home before anyone can notice.

A simple task as fixing a chair has many obstacles for Tsering living in the isolated, high-altitude setting of the sparsely populated Yangthang. The film, inspired by the films of Abbas Kiarostami, is aptly dedicated to the Iranian filmmaker.

Here's why you should journey to Ladakh for Walking With The Wind:

1. Non-professional actors

Morchhale has cast locals and non-professionals in his second feature who seem completely apt for their parts. Sonam Wangyal as the lead character, Tsering, is equal parts charming and naive as he tries to right a wrong for a friend.

2. Serene settings

The beautiful Yangthang village in Ladakh is gorgeously shot by cinematographer Mohammed Reza Jahanpanah. The clean cobbled pathways and cosy homes overlooking the green fields will make you want to book the next flight out.

3. Deft direction by Praveen Morchhale

Walking With The Wind largely works because of Morchhale's deft filmmaking style which is simple and understated. His storytelling, with a nod to Kiarostami, is straightforward and representative of his worldview, that at the end of the day, we are all more alike than different.

Walking With The Wind will be screened at the Habitat Film Festival at New Delhi's India Habitat Centre on 27 May 2018 at 2 pm.