Frozen

This is the first film from director Shivajee Chandrabhushan, but you wouldn't know it was his first film. According to the Q&A at the London Film Festival, most of his crew were first-timers as well. But the film is jaw-droppingly beautiful, shot in stark black and white, which perfectly captures the cold, unrelenting hostility of the Himalayas (the film is set in Ladakh, which is in the frozen north east of India, on the border with China).

It's not a particularly plot-driven film, so I needn't go into details, but the film basically revolves around a small family living an almost hand-to-mouth existence up in the mountains. Their lives are changed when the army sets up camp next door.

I thought the film was as good as the similarly brilliant "Kekexili: Mountain Patrol" in its depiction of the bleak cruelty of life in the mountains. I really can't imagine anyone not enjoying "Frozen", it's truly wonderful.