Cinema: "City of wind" in Ilanz

Followed by a film discussion with Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, moderated by Mari Serrano

The young shaman Ze is confronted with unexpected feelings and self-doubt when he meets the hip Maralaa. On the threshold of adulthood, he tries to balance his spiritual responsibilities and everyday life as a teenager in Ulaanbaatar. In her debut, the young filmmaker Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir tells a sensitive story in the context of Mongolian society, which hovers between modernity and tradition.

The modernization process of Mongolia has brought many people to the capital Ulaanbaatar. While skyscrapers, shopping malls and nightclubs increasingly dominate the cityscape, part of the population continues to live in yurts and cultivate traditional shamanistic Tengrism. This is also the case for 17-year-old Ze, a model student and at the same time a respected shaman. With the two-eyed mask pulled low over his face, he puts himself into a trance when someone from the community visits him with a problem. When he meets the open-minded Maralaa, who has her doubts about shamanism, he discovers love and his powers dwindle. Purev-Ochir bundles the apparent opposites in the main character and emphasizes the tension between Western ideals and traditional understanding of the world through a high-contrast staging. She skilfully creates distance through close-ups of Ulaanbaatar and paints a portrait of a country in upheaval beyond the coming-of-age. Her observations are not limited to the contrast between modernity and tradition; rather, it combines both into a colorful mosaic of contemporary Mongolian life.

The debut film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and testifies to an exciting new voice in Mongolian filmmaking. The enchanting spectacle of lead actor Tergel Bold-Erenne is also impressive. He embodies the confusing contradictions of teenage life with sensitivity and was deservedly awarded for the best male lead in Venice.