Gyrfalcon Boy

Creative Statement

Nomadic peoples have loved falcons for a very long time. But as society has developed, falcons have gradually left people's work and daily lives and now exist more as part of traditional culture and modern entertainment. In some countries, falcons are bought and sold at high prices and have become symbols of status. The grandparents hold to tradition on the grassland, the middle generation drifts between city and grassland, and whether the marks of nomadic culture can be passed on to the next generation growing up in cities is the present reality of today's "nomads". Through three generations and a gyrfalcon, we hope to present a moving story of family, and at the same time to rethink the relationship between people and nature.

Synopsis

After losing his mother, Dayan develops aphasia and becomes more and more rebellious. He bites a classmate's ear and is expelled from school. His father Gongqing, struggling to make a living, has to ask his younger brother Mashi, who lives in the pastoral area, to take Dayan back to their grassland home. On the grassland, Dayan finds the bird his mother once told him was the fastest flier in the world: the gyrfalcon. Getting closer step by step, he finds a gyrfalcon nest on a cliff and a badly injured chick. He takes the chick home and, with his grandfather's help, nurses it back to health and teaches it to fly. Just as Dayan is wondering whether to release the young bird into the wild, Gongqing, who has not been home for years, arrives on the grassland with a merchant who trades in gyrfalcons. Because of the gyrfalcon, three generations have to face the estrangement that has long divided them. To protect the gyrfalcon, Dayan suddenly cries out. Moved by his son's determination, Gongqing finally gives up selling the bird. The three generations resolve their conflicts, and each of them grows.

Genre:

Drama, Children's, Family

Director/Screenwriter:

Mo Limi

Producer:

Chagdarsuren

Production Company:

Inner Mongolia Nomadic Culture Communication Co., Ltd.

About the Director/Screenwriter

Mo Limi: bachelor's and master's degrees from the Department of Dramatic Literature at the Beijing Film Academy. Short films, including Going Far and Mother Tongue Lesson, have been selected for the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival and have won the Beijing Film Academy Golden Script Award and the South New Talent Award at the South Taiwan Film Festival, among others. Has worked in the directing teams of films including the Creation of the Gods trilogy and Arbat.

About the Producer

Chagdarsuren: chief director and producer at Inner Mongolia Television, named one of China's Top 100 Television Artists, and a recipient of Mongolia's Order of Cultural Merit. Works on grassland culture research and film and television production, and has presented and produced the films Sechen Hangru and Arbat, which have received a number of honours in China and abroad.

About the Production Company

Inner Mongolia Nomadic Culture Communication Co., Ltd.: founded in 2004, the company works in cultural and artistic exchange and in film and television planning, shooting and production, and is dedicated to promoting nomadic and grassland culture. It has organised large events such as the first Asia Arts Festival and the China-Mongolia Expo, and has shot and presented a number of documentaries and films, including Sounds of Nature, Sechen Hangru and Arbat, which have received a number of honours in China and abroad.

Logline

The gyrfalcon is known as the "god of all eagles". This is the story of three generations who repair their relationships and each grow because of a gyrfalcon.