On 22 July 1993, in the village of Ghemi in Upper Mustang, crew members of a company named Intrepid Films was shooting a docu-mentary for the US-based Discovery Channel. Thefilm was tobe on theculturat and natural wonders of Mustang, the prin¬cipality that was opened to tourists in early 1992. Tony Miller, the director, — who also held the camera — was on the lookout for anything that would make his film stand out.
To provide a storyline for his narrative, Miller had brought along Rinpoche Khamtrul, a lama from Dharamsala whom he had met in Kathmandu. The camera would follow the Rinpoche´s travel together with two assistant monks up to the walled enclave of Lo Manthang, the capital of Upper Mustang.
It was late evening. At the house-cum-hotel of Raju Bista, Ghemi´s aristocrat, Miller was filming one of the monks brushing his teeth. From behind the camera, Miller was asking questions relating to local hygiene and the omnipresence of lice in Mustang. The young lama was providing earnest answers to the questions.
It so happened that a baby lynx {Lynx lynx) had been found by the residents of Lo Manthang and was being transported down to the national zoo in Kathmandu. The animal, too, was spending the night under Bista´s roof, together with its handler.
Not one to miss the chance of incorporating this elusive, endangered animal into his film, Miller swung into action. He got permission from the handler, a worker from the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), to expose some footage. A yarn was concocted within minutes and incorporated into the script.