TIFF: Mongolian youth caught between techno and tradition in ‘City of Wind’ trailer (exclusive)

Mongolia’s young people are caught between centuries of tradition and the demands of the modern world City of the windthe new film and first feature from award-winning short film director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (Snow in September, Mountain cat).

The film, which premiered in Venice and is showing at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows the relationship between Ze, a 17-year-old, gentle Mongolian shaman, and Maralaa, a young woman who takes him outside his world to the, for him, alien urban world of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

First-timer Tergel Bold-Erdene, who plays She, won best actor honors for his performance in Venice Horizons’ sidebar. In an exclusive first trailer for the film (below), viewers follow Ze as he moves between the age-old spiritual traditions of his homeland and the barrage of the modern world. Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba plays Maralaa. Tsend-Ayush Nyamsuren, Ganzorig Tsetsgee and Bulgan Chuluunbat star. The idea for the film came to Purev-Ochir after he participated in a traditional shamanic ritual.

“I was waiting outside the apartment after the ritual and a young man, younger than me, came out – with full sleeve tattoos on both arms, a shiny earring – and he picked up his phone and started playing a video,” Purev -Ochir remembers. ‘And this was the shaman! I immediately saw the first images of the film, the story of a shaman peeling away his mask to reveal this young man behind the older spirit.”

After his triumphant debut in Venice, City of the wind arrives in Toronto, where Purev-Ochir’s was last year Snow in September won the top prize for best film at the TIFF short cuts awards.

Best Friend Forever sells City of the wind worldwide.

Watch the trailer below.