The Eagle Hunter's Son

Twelve-year-old nomad Bazarbai lives in the Altai mountains on the border between Mongolia and Kazakhstan. He is reluctant to follow the family line of highly-skilled eagle handlers and dreams of living in Ulan Bator, a large city that he associates with wealth and glamour. When his brother is given the opportunity to move to the city, Bazarbai’s sense of abandonment is rewarded by a trip to a renowned Eagle Festival. The disappearance of his father’s prized eagle kick-starts a chain of events that lead to a journey of initial temptation and then self-discovery for our young hero. As he pursues the prized eagle, he is forced to confront his position in life and learn the value of loyalty, tradition and heritage. Powerful and moving, The Eagle Hunter’s Son is very much in the tradition of The Story of the Weeping Camel and The Cave of the Yellow Dog in its use of non-actors to recreate elements of their own life on screen. —bfi