2014. The Eagle Huntress, a documentary about a Kazakh nomad girl in Mongolia learning to hunt with a golden eagle, divides opinion. On day one, Nurgaev announced he and Aisholpan were going to try to steal a young eagle from its nest, so that she might train it up for hunting. He had stumbled across her in the outside mountains of northwest Mongolia. What I was able to do was cut together 10 minutes. "This 13-year-old Girl Hunts with Golden Eagles." How did the crew shoot in subzero temperatures without destroying their equipment? He was weeping. In Mongolia, there's a 2000-year-old tradition of men hunting with eagles - training eagles to hunt. He also accepts it would have been a shame if Aisholpan's world had not been revealed to a wider audience. The film follows the fortunes of a 13-year-old Kazakh girl called Aisholpan, who wants to learn the ancient art of eagle hunting hunting foxes on horseback, with an eagle from her father. What Does the Ending of 'American Psycho' Mean? Train crash an 'unimaginable tragedy' - Greek president, Survivors describe 'nightmarish seconds' as trains crashed, Rescuers search wreckage of deadly Greece train crash. He's like, "There's a fox in these hillsit's likely going to come down through this gully." I really enjoyed this article and I think the photographs are spectacular! The Eagle Huntress follows the story of Aisholpan, a 13-year-old Kazakh girl from Mongolia, as she attempts to become the first female eagle hunter to compete in the eagle festival at Ulgii, Mongolia, established in 1999. [8] Director Otto Bell said of Ridley, "Like so many other theatergoers around the world, I was blown away by Daisy's recent portrayal of an empowered female protagonist [Rey in The Force Awakens]. That was as close [to staging] as we got.". Were working to restore it. Watch the Trailer Here! Kyrgyzstan's Salburun festival began in 1997; Mongolia's festival began in Ulgii in 1999. that this movie has people buzzing. 2014. Film Review 'The Eagle Huntress'. And I was like, 'Oh, God, we're going to have to come back'. [Spurlock] called me back that day. There is always a way to finish your film. He was sure that girl and that bird would be his subject. One of the heartwarmers at this year's Sundance Film Festival was " The Eagle Huntress ," a documentary about a 13-year-old Kazakh girl living in northwest Mongolia, determined . Otto Bell: It sort of ballooned. When The Eagle Huntress premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 24, one of Hollywood's biggest breakout stars was quietly plotting to use her newfound fame to help make it soar.Star Wars . ", Aisholpan hunting for foxes in the Altai mountains.Credit:Sony Pictures Entertainment. We probably did seven trips. Bell: We never had a crew of more than three or four people. NFS: How did you find these dream characters, Aisholpan and her amazing dad? FIG 2.7. "We did it in one take, on the first afternoon. "The first time I saw Aisholpan, having flown across the world to see her, was incredible," Bell has said. Earth-2's version of Bruce Wayne . Variety, July 16. http://variety.com/2014/film/news/kissaki-films-otto-bell-to-direct-ashol-pan-documentary-eagle-huntress-1201263741/, Cruysberghs, Stefan. ", "In retrospect, it was the biggest gamble I've ever taken.". According to Kottak, ___________ is a sacred impersonal force existing in the universe, which can reside in people, animals, plants, and objects. Take your career and your day rate to the next level. For thousands of years this was how the nomadic peoples of the northern steppes from the Caucasus to Manchuria hunted for survival. Bell could hardly believe his luck, though he hadn't brought high-end camera gear because he hadn't imagined he'd be leaping straight into production. Bell: We couldn't really protect our gear. 2016. That year, a young horsewoman with an eagle appeared at the festival in Ulgii, Mongolia; in 2013, a young eagle huntress attended the festival in Nura, Kazakhstan. ( www.davidbaxendale.com, Flickr/ CC BY-ND 2.0 ), O'Connor, Rebecca. He said, "It's fantastic. But the curmudgeonly views of these mostly elderly men were not expressed at the eagle festival, where officials and competitors were supportive, she says. The film features a 13-year-old girl tackling the powerful and violent act of hunting game deep in the mountainous Kazhak wildernessa tradition which has not been taken on by any other female in its 12-generation history. I had Morgan Spurlock's email from years ago, so I cheekily sent him a link to it. "Visit to Mongolia's Altai Mountains Takes Flight with Eagle Hunting" Report on 2104 Ulgii festival. HD. In 2013, Asher Svidensky photographed Kazakh brkitshi in Mongolia and with the help of his guide discovered Aisholpan Nurgaiv, the 13-year-old daughter of an eagle hunter. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. If you are determined enough, there are people out there who will help and want to help. He built this nine-meter crane that folds away into a snowboard bag and weighs only 25 kilos. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. [25] The filmmakers made Aisholpan and her family "profit participants" in the documentary and established a fund to help pay for Aisholpan's higher education. "A 13-year-old Eagle Huntress in Mongolia." Another scene that sceptics find questionable comes when Aisholpan's father, Agalai, gets his own father to give his blessing to Aisholpan's eagle-hunting ambitions. And also, congratulations to the filmmaker for such a stunning work, I too look at some pictures and think about the cinematic possibilities behind them, but you really went ahead and made it. Aisholpan's younger sister intends to carry on the family's heritage when Aisholpan leaves for college. Shohan's daughter, Eagle Festival, Ulgii, Mongolia, 2015. Incredible. The Chilling Mystery of the Octavius Ghost Ship, What is a Wendigo? But is it actually true? Aisulu's parents approved her wish to be a burkitshi at age 11, noting that her grandfather would be very proud. Bell: Actually, we had so much, we had to leave about 200 kilos in Ulaanbaatar [Mongolia], the capital city, in a locked room in the airport. Trained golden eagles have served Kazakh hunters of Mongolia for a millennium, and eagle hunting is a skill traditionally passed down from father to son. When you've got a mother eagle circling above, threatening to descend on you, you tend to do things pretty quickly.". By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Children commonly help to care for the eagles, go along on hunts, and attend eagle festivals. "better-than-Disney magic" - a spot-on assessment of this breathtaking film. We didn't stage anything.". How lucky we all are to have known her, and how awful that we have to say . Aisholpan, 13, is the daughter of nomadic people. Except I'd stayed longer than their average tourist. Aisulu, at age 5, teaching a young eagle to balance while perched on a horse. He was broke, but a friend had years earlier given him an email address for Morgan Spurlock, the gonzo documentary maker who came to fame with Super Size Me. 2016. We had a Ronin Steadicam, and we had these crappy old Russian vans. Watching the film, a cynical viewer may fear that Aisholpan has been coached when she says: "Girls can do anything if they try." Thanks for the inspiration. Move heaven and earth. Man in Peru Caught Out Drinking With an 800-year-old Mummy! How did you make it look so seamless? That one, he says, came out of order, but nothing else did. Aisholpan loves it, which is good. For this is an utterly joyous, life-affirming tale about what a girl can achieve when she has determination, application and the support of her family (and especially, though not only, her father): any damn thing she sets her mind to. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric', The people who want you to believe the Ukraine war is fake, What we've learned from Alex Murdaugh murder trial. Bell: Oh, it was the biggest whim of my life. Bell: When we did get money and things started to take off, we flew Simon over to sit with the colorist for a week and do the final mix. 2014. 2014. Bell: We lived together. IMAX Is a Force To Be Reckoned With at Box Offices (to No Ones Surprise), The Western Genre in Film and TV (Definition and Examples), Three Brands You Need To Keep On Your Radar To Get Perfect Lighting, podcast with one of the films cinematographers. Congratulations NFS and thank you for writing this article. "Kazakhstan's Lone Female Eagle Hunter." One reviewer has described it as a "fairytale documentary" - two words that don't usually go together - that feels at times "more like fiction than fact". 2023 BBC. [3] It follows the story of Aisholpan Nurgaiv, a 13-year-old Kazakh girl from Mongolia, as she attempts to become the first female eagle hunter to compete in the eagle festival at Ulgii, Mongolia, established in 1999. Just mountains, tents, gers, and goats. The hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Otto's story and his film are indeed inspiring. We'd sleep in the ger [traditional Mongolian nomadic tent] at night, like ducks in a row. The film took another culture's traditions, he goes on, and translated them "into the tired platitudes of a second-rate Disney animation". I'm thrilled she'll be bringing that same energy to supporting a real-world heroine who is also on an epic journey to win victory in a far away land. I just had to get there and make sure we captured it.". A highly educated member of the Torghut/Oirat/Kalmyk nomads who ranged from the Altai to the Tarim Basin, Nirgidma was photographed with her hunting eagle in 1932 in Urumqi (where the mummified eagle huntress now resides, see Part 1 ). Photographer's Blog, Reuters, March 6. http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2012/03/06/kazakhstans-lone-female-eagle-hunter/. Despite her criticisms of the film, the historian Adrienne Mayor agrees that Aisholpan is a worthy heroine. <br /><br />Set in the beautifully mountains of Bayan -Ulgii province, in the far west of the open steppes of . With her father Nurgaiv's help, she learns how to train golden eagles, and then captures and trains her own eaglet. ADRIENNE MAYOR is a research scholar in the Classics Department and History and Philosophy of Science and Technology Program at Stanford University. He saved the film. Read about our approach to external linking. At the 2013 festival in Nura she was awarded a prize by virtue of being the only female competing. No malls, no Shake Shacks. Asian Conference on Asian Studies, International Academic Forum. Especially in the winter. You might notice how it's got a dedication at the end. The Eagle Huntress is the soaring tale of an adolescent girl, 13 at the time filming began, training hard and fighting for her passion. We ate together. Video, Rescuers search wreckage of deadly Greece train crash, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. , having flown across the world to see her, and then captures and her. 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