There is a big place in my heart for the people of Southeast Asia. Smiles. Generosity. Beauty. Simplicity. So it’s no surprise that I love this trailer for Journey to Kathmandu.

The documentary is about the once-in-a-lifetime journey that goats make from their lives in Tibet to their sacrificial deaths in Kathmandu during the annual Dashain Festival, and this trailer is downright beautiful. I was so inspired by it I interviewed the documentary’s director, Chris Parkhurst. Here’s an excerpt.

What has inspired you to focus on SE Asia?

As ‘Bombhunters’ opened my eyes up to the wonderful world of documentary films, it also inspired me to travel and do work in SE Asia. Cambodia blew me away. SE Asia, as a whole, blows me away. It’s very difficult to explain to people who have never been. Sure, all the cliches apply here. It’s life-changing. Once you’ve been, you’re forever changed. But, you know, it’s absolutely true.

What can I say? It just gets in your blood, in your heart, on the brain. Once I’d done it, I only wanted more. I was addicted. Don’t get me wrong, this is not to say that countries like Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand… they’re not for everybody. They’re uncomfortable. They’re dirty. They’re corrupt. They make you sweat. They can make you sicker than you’ve ever been in your life. You’ll see some of the most decrepit, sorry things you’ll ever see. People without limbs. Kids playing in garbage dumps the size of my neighborhood back home. But I love that. I really can’t get enough.

Because what goes along with all of this are the beautiful things that you don’t get here in the States. Community. Perspective. Compassion. Appreciation for friends, family, your neighbors. Soul and spirituality. People treat one another with a kind of dignity, honesty and love that seems to be lacking here. These are all things that I hope to share with Westerners in hopes of creating some sort of better consciousness, some better ways of living and interacting with one another.

Read the whole interview over at Elephant Journal.