Kekexili - Mountain Patrol

Kekexili is a stunningly beautiful, interesting and depressing film about the mountain patrols set up to protect the last populations of the Tibetan antelopes. Beautiful because the scenery is stunning and the cinematography is brilliant. Interesting, because the viewer learns so much about the plight not just of the antelopes but also of the human populations in the area. Depressing, because although the statistics that are shown on screen at the end of the film show that the situation is improving for the antelopes, there is no indication in the film that the situation is anything other than totally grim. The viewer needs to know that the patrols are dogged by danger (patrol officers have been killed in their work) and that they are greatly under-resourced, but given that there is hope, there should be at least a glimmer of this in the narrative! This all said, it is a wonderful film for everyone interested in Tibet or nature conservation and for anyone who has ever thought about buying a shastoosh. The answer to that is don't. Shahtoosh shawls are made from the pelts of dead Tibetan antelopes and are the main reason the animal is endangered.