NFS: So you had several different cameras? The Eagle Huntress, a documentary about a Kazakh nomad girl in Mongolia learning to hunt with a golden eagle, divides opinion. Soma, Takuya. I imagine they don't watch a lot of media, so how did you convince them of what you were trying to do? In 2010, falconry historian Dennis Keen photographed Makpal with her eagle. But, Bell insists, he just got lucky. (Photo by Terry Allen). He introduced me to Stacey. As a child she helped her father with his eagle and at 13 Makpal began training her own eagle Ak Zhelke (White Neck). of gear, about 28 Pelican cases. "Her bravery and her feats in that eagle hunting contest are really amazing and inspiring," she says. "We did it in one take, on the first afternoon. "I think eagle hunting would be open to any young woman who would want to pursue it," Mayor says. Of course, finding a fox took forever. Variety, July 16. http://variety.com/2014/film/news/kissaki-films-otto-bell-to-direct-ashol-pan-documentary-eagle-huntress-1201263741/, Cruysberghs, Stefan. Video, Rescuers search wreckage of deadly Greece train crash, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. "Those guys are used to being photographed, let's put it that way," says Bell. Interview with Aisholpan. 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. The majority of Kazakh eagle hunters live in Mongolia, and keep in touch with Kazakhs in other countries. Her father, like his father before him, hunts with a majestic golden eagle, and Aisholpan dreams of carrying on the family tradition . The mausoleum was built during the reign of Timur, the ruler of the Timurid Empire. Today, the ancient arts of the brkitshi (berkutchi, eagle hunter) are carried on mainly by Kyrgyz and Kazakh nomadic groups who are now dispersed in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and "What a baby sees in the nest, it then repeats when it grows up.". Photo by Maynard Owen Williams, National Geographic 1932 (Public Domain), The turbulent history and isolation of Central Asia makes it difficult to trace eagle hunters in the modern era. "Kissaki Films' Otto Bell to Direct Ashol-Pan Documentary." Narrated by "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" breakout star Daisy Ridley, "The Eagle Huntress" relays just enough information to keep track of how an eaglet is caught (at the age of 3 months,. But Mayor and others still argue that the film creates a false impression, by failing to mention other Kazakh eagle huntresses, and exaggerating the patriarchal pressures that Aisholpan had to overcome. Barkman, Carl. And a GoPro sometimes on Aisholpan. BBC News video, Dec. 23. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16315799, Tashenov, Chingiz. 4.3 51 Ratings. her father. "From the Mediterranean to the Yellow Sea by Motor." Shes the most important critic. father, a champion Eagle Hunter, trains her despite objections of the community elders. (Photo: Marion Demanet). 2011. It isnt hitting theaters until next month, but much has already been written aboutThe Eagle Huntress. He is a two-time champion in the annual Golden Eagle festival; his father was a champion, too. THE EAGLE HUNTRESS is a coming-of-age documentary that tells the story of 13-year-old Aisholpan's desire to be the first female eagle hunter in 12 generations of her family. THE EAGLE HUNTRESS is executive produced and narrated by STAR WARS's Daisy Ridley. The eagles are not bred in captivity, but taken from nests at a young age. [26] They also donated the $3,000 prize money they received from winning Best Documentary at the Hamptons International Film Festival to this fund. As Belgian photographer Stefan Cruysberghs remarked, Amanbol and Bazarbai are "the new generation [who] will make sure these ancient traditions will be kept alive." FIG 2.8. NFS: Can you speak to some more of the gear that you used? <br /><br />Set in the beautifully mountains of Bayan -Ulgii province, in the far west of the open steppes of . Aisholpan hunting for foxes in the Altai mountains. It was 22 days of trial and error, in sub-zero temperatures that caused the filmmakers' hands to stick to their equipment. Ren Bo Hansen). While The Eagle Huntress showed Aisholpan's father Nurgaiv passing on his hunting skills to his daughter with a calm wisdom, not all locals were depicted as being so supportive. Looking forward to seeing this. As Belgian photographer Stefan Cruysberghs remarked, Amanbol and Bazarbai are "the new generation [who] will make sure these ancient traditions will be kept alive." FIG 2.8. We caught up with her to find out what life's like in Mongo. How lucky we all are to have known her, and how awful that we have to say . That's to Grandpa. 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. Central Asian Falconry Project. We knew they would do things five, 10, 20 times until she got it right. 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). ", But in truth that wasn't the first time Bell had seen her. The Chilling Mystery of the Octavius Ghost Ship, What is a Wendigo? The ancient practice of eagle hunting is carried on today by a few hundred nomadic Kazakhs in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Xinjiang (northwest China). These stunning photographs show the changing face of a majestic centuries old Kazakh pastime tradition that still lives in the lands of mongolia - eagle hunters. The trailer flashes . Jan. 26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1AuX2v0KGg&ebc=ANyPxKrGAA9rbsdHRmQPckpsIlvlfz650dckpgie6VKJ2qqe18vSjhT2qz6P9exypxTjrmLefR0a, Real Screen . He had stumbled across her in the outside mountains of northwest Mongolia. [14], Some reviewers and researchers felt that the documentary overstated the amount of opposition Aisholpan faced as a female eagle hunter and that the early promotion of the film included an ethnocentric and distortive description of the Kazakh eagle hunting culture as being one of "ingrained misogyny" (IMDb description for initial 7 months from film's premiere). Otto Bell, director of The Eagle Huntress. Part of the films better-than-Disney magic comes from the fact that its protagonist's (. He saved me. NFS: You were out in that winter tundra for 22 days? The Eagle Huntress, a documentary about a Kazakh nomad girl in Mongolia learning to hunt with a golden eagle, divides opinion. 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. Girls and boys start riding horses at age five and help with herds and putting up gers. Aisholpan 's father loves her, and supports her, with simple unwavering pride. Except I'd stayed longer than their average tourist. . But is it actually true? 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. mana. She's a remarkable young woman, aided in her quest by a remarkable feminist father, Rys Nurgaiv, who supports Aisholpan one hundred percent even as he worries about how the male eagle hunters will treat her. Bell: We lived together. It feels seamless despite having GoPro, C300s, and Epics. 2012. ", "In retrospect, it was the biggest gamble I've ever taken.". "The first time I saw Aisholpan, having flown across the world to see her, was incredible," Bell has said. 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 ). Ulgii Festival photographs, Sept. 21. http://www.scip.be/index.php?Page=PhotosMongolia&Lang=EN&ID=2941, Kysar, Kathryn. "Makpal, First Woman Eagle Hunter in Modern Kazkahstan." Aisholpan, a 13-year-old Kazakh girl from Mongolia, commits to a family tradition going back 12 generations. Makpal and her eagle, 2010, Kazakhstan. In February 2015, Bell and his team went back to film the final act, in which Aisholpan and her father trek on horseback into the Altai mountains in deepest winter to capture a fox. I just had to get there and make sure we captured it.". The film starred her older brother Bazarbai when he was 12. Bronze Age Sexism In Horses May or May Not Extend to Human Society! 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. 2023 BBC. They're called bread loaf vans because they look like a bread loaf. And it's no surprisethat this movie has people buzzing. Except the conflict never really happens. The father likes to sit outside anyway, he likes to watch the goats. Bell has a series of elder-statesmen in the rarefied world of eagle hunting address the camera with their views: it's not for girls; women should make tea, not hunt; women are not strong enough. Parents need to know that The Eagle Huntress is a documentary about an extraordinary 13-year-old named Aisholpan Nurgai, who strives to become the first female eagle hunter in 12 generations of her nomadic Mongolian tribe's history. NFS: Were you ever on horseback yourself? The film took another culture's traditions, he goes on, and translated them "into the tired platitudes of a second-rate Disney animation". [Spurlock] called me back that day. This fact is confirmed by several well-known Kazakh eagle hunters such as Agii Makhsum in Mongolia, and by other female brkitshi in Kazakhstan and Mongolia. "Kazakhstan's Lone Female Eagle Hunter." [15][16] After historical evidence and facts were published about nomadic steppe women participating in training eagles to hunt from antiquity to the present day,[17] the filmmakers corrected early reports placed in media outlets that Aisholpan was "the only" woman in the world hunting with an eagle. Incredible story, and great interview working on my first documentary now, and filming in a foreign language, so this was inspiring. Alfred Beagle was the son of Jarvis, the former butler to the Wayne family in Gotham City . Marianne Williamson Signals 2024 Presidential Run. Nope. "It looks like 30 people shot it, but in reality it was only three of us.". "[13] Metacritic reports a 72 out of 100 score based on 20 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". He really helped. Lauren McGough, American eagle huntress in Mongolia, 2009-2013. The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites around the French village of Carnac, in Brittany, consisting of more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. BBC News Magazine , April 14. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26969150, Mosbergen, Dominique. for only $13.00 $11.05/page. After her win in 2014 (captured on film) she was greeted by loud cheers when she competed again in 2015 and 2016. Reuters YouTube video, Dec. 9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxzClfYV6WY. But you know she'll never be able to hack it in winter.' Otto Bell: It sort of ballooned. Women can compete in horse racing, archery, and wrestling. Aisholpan, National Geographic 2014, and Otto Bell's The Eagle Huntress Sundance poster 2016. Were working to restore it. For thousands of years this was how the nomadic peoples of the northern steppes from the Caucasus to Manchuria hunted for survival. 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. Aisholpan is a 13-year-old Kazakh girl in western Mongolia who learns the ancient art of eagle hunting from her father Nurgaiv. I was blessed by such elders as Tleubek Esimbek, Aben Toktasynov, Seitzhan Kodekov. Having guests has a true intrinsic importance to their lives. The marketing for the film has suggested, without ever quite stating, that Aisholpan is the first ever female eagle hunter. Adrienne Mayor's paper, The Eagle Huntress - Ancient Traditions and New Generations, mentions a number of Kazakh women who have trained or are training to hunt with eagles, Otto Bell (centre) with Aisholpan's parents at the Ajyal film festival in Doha in December, Rescuers search wreckage of deadly Greece train crash. 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." 150,000-Year-Old Pipes Baffle Scientists in China: Out of Place in Time? Rent $3.99. Who would not be proud, in her position, to have beaten grown men with years of eagle-hunting experience? Thanks for the inspiration. Dec. 2, 2016. She belongs to a family of nomads who spend their summers in a ger in the Altai Mountains and their winters in a house in town. (Read The Eagle Huntress: Ancient Traditions, and Evidence for Women as Eagle Hunters Part I ). Tradition stands in her way. (Photo 2010 Mongolia, courtesy of Bek, backtobektravel.com), In 2010, at age 5, Aisulu began helping her father Ardak train an eagle. 1 Hour 27 Minutes. But she says the same thing off-screen too: "I am happy that I have won a man's competition. The challenge was always to stay ahead of them. Featured image: 13 year old Asholpan, Eagle Huntress. In addition to her dreams of becoming an eagle huntress, she also wants to be a doctor when she grows up. 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". Aisholpan also confirms that she was aware some men thought a girl was not strong enough to hold an eagle, that she should stay at home, and would not be able to stand the cold hunting for hours in winter in the Altai mountains. "They are very reserved people, so I had to keep my feelings in check, but inside I was punching the air. 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 hunter, and rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries. "I thought we need to throw the kitchen sink at this thing, to do justice to this big landscape and these remarkable characters," he says. 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. "I did it drawing on my experience in commercials. In retrospect, it was the biggest gamble I've ever taken. 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. Prelude to The Mandate . 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