czubad However much this documentary gives you the feeling that it was staged, there is no mistaking the lead role's innocence and strength. The centerpiece isn't so much the cinematography, but that 13 year old girl's seemingly from birth choice to take up training an eagle to hunt. Even the hardships seem effortless to her. For example, finding the baby eagle and taking it from its cliff-edge nest, the high point of the documentary, finds her making hand motions to the eagle, putting it at ease like a mother eagle. Later, she pets it while feeding it, and snuggles under its already enormous wing. When she and her father go to the competition, this is when the film seems most staged, but how can a filmmaker do that and get away with it seeming natural? Then comes the hardest hardship of going into the mountains to catch game, carrying the 15 pound eagle (that's a stone for you Europeans) on her arm as she and dad ride on their horses for miles into the cold. It's as if David Attenborough will soon start narrating. The film's thorn is a non-indigenous soundtrack. Though sweeping, it sounds much too Western to give the film a needed dimension of authenticity.

Deden Sahman I like documentary movie especially movies from central Asian, and nomad people. This amazing movie I ever seen and I always have a good impression not only culture but also nature and mountains. Btw, This movie about Kazakh family but I saw the flag is Mongolian. Do you know where is the location of this movie? I cannot hear perfectly about this movie location from narrator. Thanks

trekwithleena As this story is about a young Mongolian girl who is pursuing her dream to become a traditional Eagle Huntress like her father, you might be inclined to believe the main plot is about emerging feminism in modern Mongolia. But the true story is something much more magical. A traditional father who loves and supports his daughter, and a loving daughter who holds her father in the highest regard as a teacher. Nothing could be more true and touching, as he encourages her to be whoever she dreams to be.... a girl who wears bows in her hair, laughs with her friends, and can ride a horse and tame an eagle as good as any man on the steppe. A must watch.

patton-501-359520 And incredibly moving on all levels. Such a different way of living, such a spectacular huge empty landscape. I came away so thankful for my way of life .. but yet envying them for their way of life. And the eagles . .so beautiful and yet so vicious. Full of awe for everything in the documentary. I hope it is eventually made for public sale. I would gladly buy a DVD for myself, and other copies as gifts for others. The cultural, geographic and family dynamics laid out for us .. to say nothing of the tradition of eagle hunting itself ... kept me riveted through the entire film. The summer camp and the winter quarters, the residential school for the children, the entire cultural panoply was FAR more inclusive than taking a tour of Mongolia. And the juxtaposition with modern ways of living and modern attitudes. I laughed inside when they rode their ponies, dressed in traditional hunter costumes with their eagles on their arms, into the streets of city traffic, on their way to the eagle hunters competition. Such a contrast.