30/05/2025
Thank you to KPFK Film Club for this great review of BETWEEN THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SKY!
"A beacon of inspiration for how this world can be made a better place."
đMake sure you catch a screening at Laemmle Monica Film Center starting tomorrow until June 5!
KPFK Film Club Review: BETWEEN THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SKY
For those who might enjoy a booster shot of love and hope, this film is surely for you. Indeed, BETWEEN THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SKY might be said to have universal appeal, as a truly inspirational and heartwarming experience.
Thatâs because of the abundant demonstrations of love, in Jeremy Power Regimbalâs intensely moving documentary. Love seems to surge, like a beautiful, powerful, magical force, alleviating the pain of abandonment, neglect, tremendous poverty, trauma and tragedy, grief and fear, as well as the regular but taxing struggles and challenges encountered in family life. Like a snowball rolling downhill, this seemingly âspherical circleâ of love and optimism has grown through the years, to touch an increasing number of lives. It has now offered hope and sustenance to thousands.
The film documents the work of Maggie Doyne, who, as an 18-year-old American high school grad from New Jersey in 2005, took a year off before attending college, in order to volunteer at a childrenâs home in India. After visiting Nepal with a friend, she chose to stay and work with refugee children orphaned by the Nepalese civil war (1996 to 2006). Thousands, perhaps a million children, were left without parents. Doyneâs decision, nearly 20 years ago, changed her life. Her mission flourished, from a temporary detour to help a few kids, to making fundamental positive changes in the lives of hundreds of children, as well as many others in need.
Starting with babysitting money that she had earned in high school, Doyne, in partnership with her friend Tope Bahadur Malla (himself an orphan), purchased land in the Surkhet valley, where the two built a new home for orphaned children. That act was eventually to make her the âmotherâ to over 50 kids.
The pair established the BlinkNow Foundation in 2007, which now provides funding and management of a Childrenâs Home and Farm (2007), the Kopila Valley School (2010), a Health Clinic (2011), a Womenâs Center (2013), the Big Sisters' Home (2017), and a new Green Campus in Surkhet, Nepal (2019). The goal is not only to help people flourish, but to do so while promoting sustainability and self-reliance.
The chronicle of Doyneâs life does indeed seem propelled, and perpetuated, by love. We see how early seeds were planted in a supportive childhood (âAll of the joys and the memories made me who I wasâŚwhat (my parents) didnât have in money, they made up for with a sense of togetherness and play.â)
We hear the story of the orphan childrenâs home beginnings, and how, child by child, Doyne and Mallaâs work grew, sustained by Doyneâs international fundraising efforts. We experience how Tope gets called when children are left parentless and sick, and we witness some of the process involved in assimilating the kids into the Home community. It takes coordination with counselors, social workers, community leaders, and the local government. The work is endless, and can be as heartbreaking as it is fulfilling. Everybody relies on the Homeâs huge âfamilyâ to help each other outâthe process is not easy, and requires sacrifices. The payback, however, in terms of the childrenâs smiles and their success in thriving, can be thrilling. We see kids who, very early in their lives, were without resources, and with nowhere to go. Eventually, through a nurtured life in the Home, some get to the point where they are able to attend prestigious colleges throughout the world.
Much like the majestic mountains and valleys of Nepal, the life journeys in this film are marked with both great joy, as well as serious tragedy. Even for the resilient, with a community of support, the process of grief still takes a heavy toll. The documentary takes us through a number of these tough episodes. But we also witness the process of healing, and how such trials can be balanced with finding new chances to get and give love. In Maggieâs case, that includes her marriage to the filmâs director, Jeremy Power Regimbal, and the birth of their child, Ruby.
BETWEEN THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SKY is truly a kind of balm for the soul. Moreover, it is a beacon of inspiration for how this world can be made a better place. We learn that, in places of tremendous need, there can also be the potential for tremendous healingâŚsometimes with just a relative modicum of resources. When oneâs heart is in the right place, it seems that the sky is the limit.
BETWEEN THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SKY opens in Los Angeles, Wed., May 28 at Laemmle NoHo, followed by a week at Laemmle Monica (May 30-June 5). Mark Duplass, filmmaker, Jeremy Power Regimbal & the subject, Maggie Doyne (CNN Hero) will appear together on May 28 at Laemmle NoHo.
Get more info here: https://www.betweenthemountainandthesky.com/
Enjoy the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIaRuiLEABI