Children commonly help to care for the eagles, go along on hunts, and attend eagle festivals. ", "The Eagle Huntress Review: A Problematic Documentary", "The Eagle Huntress: Ancient Traditions and New Generations", "A 13-year-old eagle huntress in Mongolia", "Teenage Eagle Hunter is Mongolia's New Movie Star", "The internet may love eagle huntresses, but the eagle hunters certainly don't", "A Documentary Star is Born: The Girl Who Hunts with Eagles", "Interview: Aisholpan Nurgaiv and Director Otto Bell Talk to Me About The Eagle Huntress and Girl Power", "13-Year-Old Eagle Huntress Gives Great Advice for People Too Scared to Follow Their Dreams", "Interview: Otto Bell on the Structure of, "The Eagle Huntress Wins Best Documentary at Hamptons Film Fest", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Eagle_Huntress&oldid=1110165508, This page was last edited on 14 September 2022, at 00:12. 2011. I filmed it like I would film a live sports event," he says. "My feeling was just because it's a true story that doesn't mean it can't also be beautiful. Thank goodness we had Agalai, the father, because his understanding of the landscape and of nature is almost preternatural. In addition, although Dennis Keen served as a voluntary film consultant to Otto Bell, he failed to discover the existence of other Kazakh eagle festival participants such as Akbota Bagashar, or Gulaida Zhorobekova, an eagle (and other birds of prey) falconer of Kyrgyzstan, both of whom also preceded Aisholpan Nurgaiv in terms of female engagement in eagle falconry in Central Asia. Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us. (We even did a podcast with one of the films cinematographers after its Sundance premiere earlier this year.) The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. During the Soviet era, eagle hunting waned but began to reemerge in the late 20th century, with annual eagle contests, like the Sayat festival at Nura, Kazakhstan. As a little girl in Mongolia, Aisholpan dreamt of flying an eagle like her Dad. Its a documentarians dream: incredibly charismatic protagonists, majestic landscapes, underlying social issues, and a classic David and Goliath tale. How lucky we all are to have known her, and how awful that we have to say . "I haven't seen anything like this, how can I help you get this thing finished," he wrote. 2.11M subscribers Narrated by: Daisy Ridley The Eagle Huntress Official Trailer 1 (2016) - Documentary The Eagle Huntress follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the. father, a champion Eagle Hunter, trains her despite objections of the community elders. Our experts can deliver a "The Eagle Huntress" by Otto Bell essay. "Up to that point," Bell says, "I'd been kind of alone and going a bit mad. She ends up winning the competition, and her eaglet breaks a speed record in one of the events. So, the idea of having Daisy for about five minutes of narration through the film, and having that big, directional score, is to kind of help kids orient themselves. 2015. 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. I saw his spellbinding work, and was like, "There's got to be a film behind that photo." Early publicity for the film did little to inspire confidence, by stating that Aisholpan had fought "an ingrained culture of misogyny to become the first female eagle hunter in 2,000 years of male-dominated history" - a claim that US historian Adrienne Mayor has shown is untrue. Who will win? Strong women have always been part of the venerable Kazakh nomad heritage and girls were never forbidden to train eagles. "This 13-year-old Girl Hunts with Golden Eagles." Documentary-maker Otto Bell's debut feature tells the story of Aisholpan, a 13-year-old powerhouse bucking centuries of tradition with her quest to become modern-day Mongolia's first prominent . "[21] Aisholpan has described the opposition she faced in her own words.[22][23]. Anyone strong enough to carry an eagle can begin apprenticeship with one's own eagle. But is it actually true? "That would have been enough in the film. I didn't go away. I contacted him on Facebook, we Skyped, and very quickly we decided to head out there and talk to the family about making a film. Seeing commitment and talent in me they bestowed me with an eaglet/baby eagle which they thought/predicted could become a best hunting eagle in the future." In retrospect, it was the biggest gamble I've ever taken. A lot of things broke. Bell characterizes Mongolia as backwards and claims that because the Kazakhs live in such isolation they are ignorant about what women can do. Interviewed in Mongolia's leading newspaper in 2016, however, Aisholpan's mother Alma stated that there are no restrictions on girls deciding to be eagle hunters. "[9], The documentary was a New York Times Critics Pick[10] and an LA Times Critics Pick. [26] They also donated the $3,000 prize money they received from winning Best Documentary at the Hamptons International Film Festival to this fund. About this movie arrow_forward The Eagle Huntress follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle. The traditional test of a brkitshi is a successful hunting trip on horseback. The challenge was always to stay ahead of them. 150,000-Year-Old Pipes Baffle Scientists in China: Out of Place in Time? Mummified eagle h They're called bread loaf vans because they look like a bread loaf. But then when you get back home and you don't have any money left and it all gets a bit depressing he helped build a village of people around me.". The language isn't there. In the 7th century AD, the Byzantine Empire harnessed the power of fire with the creation of Greek fire, a weapon of destruction unlike any before its time. 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. NFS: You just had to have some good old-fashioned chutzpah. Please try again later. But they are made possible not only by her own grit and skill but by her nomadic culture, in which women can be men's equals and girls can train eagles. We figured out we could only really film for about three hours a day. "Visit to Mongolia's Altai Mountains Takes Flight with Eagle Hunting" Report on 2104 Ulgii festival. It has a stirring musical soundtrack, ends with an anthem "You can do anything" sung by pop superstar Sia, and is narrated by another teenage role model, Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley. 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Aimoldir Dayanbek and her father, Mana Dayanbek. I just didn't know how to get it finished. "Is that the kind of thing you'd like to film?" The little twin propeller plane that flies up to their region twice a week physically couldn't take off with our bodies and all of the gear that we had. 2015. 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. In modern times, there have also been eagle huntresses - in the 1920s, a Mongol eagle huntress became known as Princess Nirgidma in Europe. The only artistic licence he took, he insists, is the opening sequence in which a hunter sets his bird free (the Kazakhs release their eagles after seven years, deeming them to have entered the stage of their lives when they are ready to become parents themselves). After their father died, Bazarbai began teaching Amanbol to be an eagle huntress. 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. Film Review 'The Eagle Huntress'. The father likes to sit outside anyway, he likes to watch the goats. Meanwhile, in 2009-2013, the eagle hunter Kukan taught a young American woman, Lauren McGough, to be a brkitshi. The Eagle Huntress is a documentary that tells the story of Aisholpan, a 13-year old Kazakh girl living in the remote Altai Mountains of Mongolia, who is determined to become an eagle hunter like her father - despite the fact that it's a tradition usually reserved for men. 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. He introduced me to Stacey. Aisholpan, National Geographic 2014, and Otto Bell's The Eagle Huntress Sundance poster 2016. that this movie has people buzzing. Photographer's Blog, Reuters, March 6. http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2012/03/06/kazakhstans-lone-female-eagle-hunter/. THE EAGLE HUNTRESS follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to becom See more 28,736 peoplelike this 28,954 people follow this http://theeaglehuntressmovie.com/ theeaglehuntress@gmail.com Movie Photos See all Videos See all 0:16 Happy #EarthDay! He really helped. The hardest thing I've ever done in my life. "I think eagle hunting would be open to any young woman who would want to pursue it," Mayor says. The Eagle Huntress Has Landed.Aishol-Pan in Wonderland . All Rights Reserved. In 2015, Aisholpan and Amanbol attended the Ulgii festival, along with a third young girl brkitshi apprentice. Tarim,! A Mongol horsewoman-eagle huntress who became a celebrity in Europe in the 1920s was Princess Nirgidma (1907-1983). Historian of Central Asian falconry Takuya Soma points out that falconry disappeared in other less open, sedentary societies. I really enjoyed this article and I think the photographs are spectacular! We were just blazing alongside them. HD. Filled with stunning photographs, The Eagle Huntress is a striking tale of determination -- of a girl who defied expectations and achieved what others declared impossible. [27], Last edited on 14 September 2022, at 00:12, Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, https://egemen.kz/article/29988-on-ushinde-qondyrghan-qolgha-qyran, https://astanatimes.com/2014/03/falconry-tournament-tests-ancient-skills/, "Mongolia's Teen Eagle Huntress Deserves to Be the Next Elsa", "Oscar documentary shortlist focuses on politics and race", "BAFTA nominations: 'La La Land' leads with 11; 'Arrival,' 'Nocturnal Animals' nab 9 each - Full list & notable omissions", "Teenage 'Eagle Huntress' Overturns 2,000 Years Of Male Tradition", "The Incredible Story Behind the Film "The Eagle Huntress", "How a movie about eagle hunting nabbed a, "Review: In 'The Eagle Huntress,' a girl from Mongolia soars", "Sundance fights tide with films like 'The Birth of a Nation', "Is The Eagle Huntress Really a Documentary?