The indie drama City of Wind, marking the feature directorial debut of Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, has been set as Mongolia’s International Feature Oscar entry for 2024.
The news comes following its recent world premiere in the Orizzonti Competition of the Venice Film Festival, where actor Tergel Bold-Erdene won the Venice Horizons Award for Best Actor.
The film from the creative nicknamed Dulmaa tells the story of Ze (Tergel Bold-Erdene), a 17-year-old serving as the shaman for his village, who at the same time studies hard at school, in order to succeed in the cold, callous society of modern Mongolia. When Ze encounters Maralaa (Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba), his senses are awakened and another reality seems possible.
Also starring Bulgan Chuluunbat, Ganzorig Tsetsgee, and Tsend-Ayush Nyamsuren, City of Wind is produced by Katia Khazak and Charlotte Vincent. Writer-director Purev-Ochir adapted the film loosely from her debut short Mountain Cat, which premiered in competition at Cannes and also screened at Sundance, London, Locarno, and Busan, winning Best Asian Short Film at the latter. After Venice, where it drew strong reviews, the feature take went on to make its North American premiere in Toronto, where it received a standing ovation.
Purev-Ochir’s other past short, Snow in September, was honored with the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, also scoring Best International Short Film at TIFF last year. The multi-hyphenate is repped by WME, as well as Bernie Cahill and Jon Kanak at Activist Artists Management.
Source: deadline.com
