Between the Mountain and the Sky focuses on Maggie Doyne and the over 50 orphans she and others care for in Nepa, with Gabriola Island filmmaker Jeremy Regimbal documenting their lives over a decade. (Jeremy Regimbal)

By Alex Rawnsley

global impact

‘World shifting:’ local filmmaker’s documentary on Nepalese orphans garners Oscar attention

Dec 9, 2025 | 5:32 AM

NANAIMO — Work by a local filmmaker and his wife over the last decade could have them standing on the Academy Awards stage in Los Angeles.

Jeremy Regimbal’s feature film Between the Mountain and the Sky profiles his wife Maggie Doyne, her non-profit BlinkNow, and a community of orphaned children who live together and attend the nearby Kopila Valley School in western Nepal, a place Doyne discovered while on a gap year from high school over 20 years ago.

Regimbal, who has family on Gabriola Island and lives part of the year in the region, makes his entry into her story in the mid-2010’s.

“When I first started it, I wasn’t sure what it was going to be. I was going over to Nepal one time, thinking that it was just going to be a short film, and I was making this little project with someone I was falling in love with at the same time. I had no idea that it was going to go on for ten years.”

The film, available to watch online free of charge, or by making a donation to BlinkNow, follows Doyne, her Nepalese operations partner Tope and around 50 different orphaned children who live in the home.

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It’s a story which shows the struggles and successes of the children as they grow, bond and adapt to their surroundings.

An early theme shows Doyne and Tope bringing two more children, aged seven and three, into the home from a remote village after their parents passed away within months of each other.

A focal point of the film however is Ravi, who is dropped off in an extremely malnourished state, but gradually recovers after a long stay in hospital and loving care from Doyne, Tope and all the children at the home.

Doyne (left) was named CNN’s Hero of the Year in 2015 for her work in Nepal. (Jeremy Regimbal)

Regimbal also follows some of the older children as they grow and eventually leave to pursue education in other countries, including the Netherlands and the United States.

The film is under consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its best documentary category, with a shortlist of 15 to be announced Dec. 16 before the final five nominees are revealed a month later.

Regimbal told NanaimoNewsNOW the project changed his life “in every possible way”, adding he jungled multiple responsibilities to executive the documentary.

“I’d go back [to the United States and Canada], make some money and keep filming. We always joked that the last commercial I did was a sweat-proof makeup commercial, and then I was in Nepal making this really beautiful, meaningful thing. One of the last conference calls [for the commercial], they were talking about how many seconds the logo of the makeup would be in it, and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m out’.”

With a makeup ad project among others removed from his agenda, Regimbal, along with a small team which included his brother Jesse, were laser-focused on their project in Nepal.

While the theme of the documentary is about “Mama” Maggie and the children, intimate moments of Doyne’s relationship with Regimbal are included.

Their proposal in Oregon and subsequent wedding in Nepal are both celebrated with the children, as is the birth of their own children in the years following.

The film follows children of an orphanage in Nepal as they grow up, highlighting young children learning about the world around them, as well as older children as they leave and head to school abroad. (Jeremy Regimbal)

Regimbal said putting himself, Doyne and others out for the world to see was “really scary” to start with, but reactions from those who’ve seen it have been overwhelming.

“Even at the first film festival, I remember, we had a 75-year-old man come up, and he was a hand surgeon or something like that, and he’s like, ‘I’m not allowed to cry in my job. I haven’t cried in 30 years, and I just wept through this whole film.’ We’ve had similar reactions from teenagers and people in their 20s, so it’s just been really beautiful to see.”

Screenings have been taking place regularly around the world.

Recent events have included London and Amsterdam, as well as New York City, New Jersey and Los Angeles.

Past events have included such guests as actors Edward Norton and Benedict Cumberbatch, with every screening not only helping raise money for the non-profit, but also increasing the film’s profile ahead of Oscar voting.

Regimbal said selection to the 15-film shortlist, let alone being one of the five nominees, would be “world shifting” for the organization.

A trailer for the film is below, while full details on Between the Mountain and the Sky are available on the film’s website.

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