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 to break into the traditionally all-male sport of hunting with trained birds of prey.
The film, by Otto Bell, has been nominated for a Producers Guild Award and is a strong contender for an Oscar nomination. In promoting it, its young star, Aisholpan Nurgaiv, now 15, wore her land’s traditional clothes as she traveled to the Toronto and Telluride film festivals (among others) with her father and translator. The three met up briefly in New York last month, just a short time before embarking on their 20-hour journey back home, where Aisholpan is enjoying newfound fame and planning to help her younger sister learn the art of eagle hunting too.
-Is it your first time in New York — what do you think?
-It’s my second time in New York, my third time in the United States. There are so many people here, and the city is very beautiful.
-Are you homesick?
-I’ve been here four days. I don’t miss my home that much, but I’m always thinking about it. My older brother is taking care of my eagle now. I do miss her a lot. We have so many memories together.
-How did you meet Otto, and, at that time, had you found your eagle yet?
-Asher Svidensky, who is a photographer, took my photo, and then brought Otto to my home. During that time, I didn’t have my own eagle — I was sometimes hunting with my father’s eagle. But I had plans to get my own. The eagle I have in the movie is the same one I have now. She’s already three years old, but I have two years left at high school now, and after graduation I might study in a different city, far away from my homeland and my eagle. So I might release my eagle in two years, and stop hunting with eagles. But I also plan to teach my younger sister eagle hunting.
-Does your eagle have a name?
-Yes, Aq Qanattarı, which means white wings. Earlier, according to tradition, people usually don’t give names to eagles or the animals, so I’m kind of the first person to do that.
-Do the people back home know about the movie?
-Yes, and they are already proud of me, because I’m famous now. They haven’t seen the film yet, but they can’t wait to see it. It was very interesting and very funny to watch myself on the big screen. There were also some moments when I didn’t realize I was being filmed.
-The film shows several older men who are eagle hunters saying it was no sport for a girl. Have their opinions changed?
-Yes, before they were saying that it’s not a girl’s activity, but after I won the festival, and after I did some hunting with my father’s friends, they shared their experiences with their friends about what I did. So right now they fully accept me as an eagle huntress.
-Do more girls want to do it, having seen you succeed?
-Yes, last year there was another girl in the festival, and this year there are two more, so right now there are four eagle huntresses.
-You started a revolution.
-[Laughs] Yes.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/
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 to break into the traditionally all-male sport of hunting with trained birds of prey.
The film, by Otto Bell, has been nominated for a Producers Guild Award and is a strong contender for an Oscar nomination. In promoting it, its young star, Aisholpan Nurgaiv, now 15, wore her land’s traditional clothes as she traveled to the Toronto and Telluride film festivals (among others) with her father and translator. The three met up briefly in New York last month, just a short time before embarking on their 20-hour journey back home, where Aisholpan is enjoying newfound fame and planning to help her younger sister learn the art of eagle hunting too.
-Is it your first time in New York — what do you think?
-It’s my second time in New York, my third time in the United States. There are so many people here, and the city is very beautiful.
-Are you homesick?
-I’ve been here four days. I don’t miss my home that much, but I’m always thinking about it. My older brother is taking care of my eagle now. I do miss her a lot. We have so many memories together.
-How did you meet Otto, and, at that time, had you found your eagle yet?
-Asher Svidensky, who is a photographer, took my photo, and then brought Otto to my home. During that time, I didn’t have my own eagle — I was sometimes hunting with my father’s eagle. But I had plans to get my own. The eagle I have in the movie is the same one I have now. She’s already three years old, but I have two years left at high school now, and after graduation I might study in a different city, far away from my homeland and my eagle. So I might release my eagle in two years, and stop hunting with eagles. But I also plan to teach my younger sister eagle hunting.
-Does your eagle have a name?
-Yes, Aq Qanattarı, which means white wings. Earlier, according to tradition, people usually don’t give names to eagles or the animals, so I’m kind of the first person to do that.
-Do the people back home know about the movie?
-Yes, and they are already proud of me, because I’m famous now. They haven’t seen the film yet, but they can’t wait to see it. It was very interesting and very funny to watch myself on the big screen. There were also some moments when I didn’t realize I was being filmed.
-The film shows several older men who are eagle hunters saying it was no sport for a girl. Have their opinions changed?
-Yes, before they were saying that it’s not a girl’s activity, but after I won the festival, and after I did some hunting with my father’s friends, they shared their experiences with their friends about what I did. So right now they fully accept me as an eagle huntress.
-Do more girls want to do it, having seen you succeed?
-Yes, last year there was another girl in the festival, and this year there are two more, so right now there are four eagle huntresses.
-You started a revolution.
-[Laughs] Yes.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/