MONGOLIA, THE DARHAT HORSEMAN AND THE WHITE STALLION
Etnografia 1x52' | 2019
*June 2019
In the Darhat valley of northern Mongolia, the horses of the nomadic tribes are disappearing. Bandits are stealing them to sell to Russian abattoirs for just a few rubles. But Shukhert, a crime-fighting Darhat horseman, is relentlessly pursuing them to the Taiga mountain range of Mongolia, on the border with Siberia.
When his white stallion disappeared, Shukhert embarked upon a race against time to track down the bandits, find his horse, and bring it home before winter.
In this documentary, like a Western set in the East, life seems stranger than fiction – despite this being an absolutely authentic tale.
Horse thefts are commonplace in this region, each triggering epic hunts across the spectacular steppes of northern Mongolia.
From Buddhism to Shamanism, from horses to reindeer, and from hunters to those looking for gold, his journey is punctuated by a range of encounters that help explain the diversity of this complex region with its ethnic and socio-economic tensions.Thanks to his knowledge of the Mongolian territory, culture, and language, and his extensive experience of the region over the past 10 years, Hamid Sardar takes us on a journey into a world accessible only to a rare few, where safety and justice are pushed to their limits.
Etnografia 1x52' | 2019