I'm slowly working my way through my film fest reviews. I will have them all done by the end of the month.

Daughters of Everest was a documentary and (excluding the actual shorts) the shortest item on our list, at 56 minutes.

From a filmmaking standpoint, it didn't break any new boundaries or knock our socks off with its style. It would not have been out of place on the Travel Channel. That is not to say that it was boring or poorly done. It would not have been out of place on the Travel Channel.

The subject matter was quite compelling: a group of Sherpa women set out in 2000 to become the first Nepalese women to ever summit Mt. Everest. They only had a brief window of time and very little training, but they set out to do their best. It was rather like watching American reality TV at some points, as various team member vented their frustrations about others to the camera. At t he same time, it was about as far away from American reality TV as you can get. The philosophies of honor and responsility that they held are not the sort of thing that you hear on Survivor or Road Rules.

It being a documentary about events that I didn't already know, it did keep me guessing as to how it would turn out. In a movie, there are dramatic cues that let you know if someone will be injured or killed, or if someone is going to succeed in the end. Real life doesn't have those, so I was kept guessing the whole time.
I'm not going to give it away for you, in case you get a chance to see it yourself.