Sonam, an undocumented immigrant living in the US returns home after 20 years and embarks on a journey to high-altitude monasteries with his estranged son, Karma, whom he is meeting for the first time. Sonam wants to pay homage to his late wife, whose funeral he regretfully missed. On this prayer trip in the rugged mountain terrain, he strives to connect with his distant son, Karma.
“Windhorse” is a personal recount of estranged relationships I and many other youths from my community have had with their parents who lived away from their home to provide a better future for their family. It’s a story of modern migration, where the parents return home to be with their children after decades of working in a foreign country, meanwhile, their children go abroad looking for better opportunities, abandoning the possibility to reconcile and restore their relationships.
Due to the construct of our patriarchal society, lots of emotions are unsaid and suppressed. And I wanted to explore this estrangement and unexpressed feelings I had experienced with my father through this film.
As an undercurrent, the film also deals with the stigma of patriarchal society where Men are conditioned to not show vulnerable emotions as it is considered the signs of shame and weakness.