Private Project

Winter Taiga

Magsar and Ankhaa raise their children and reindeer in a remote valley in northern Mongolia. The winters are long and they work hard to secure a future for their families. Thanks to them, the new generation now has a choice: stay on the Great White Steppe and take over the herd, or leave for an uncertain future elsewhere, probably in the city.
The choice is theirs. Magsar and Ankhaa know this and will respect their individual decisions.

  • Dominique Snyers
    Director
  • Marco Rosano
    Soundtrack
  • Chloe Phillips-Morris
    Key Cast
    "Horse trainer and writer"
  • Ankhaa Bayaraa Tsagaandari
    Key Cast
    "Mother"
  • Magstar Batbayar
    Key Cast
    "Father"
  • Unenburen Yundenbat
    Key Cast
    "Driver"
  • Davaadorj Batbayar
    Key Cast
    "Younger son"
  • Suvda Batbayar
    Key Cast
    "Eldest son"
  • Lukas Bayaraa
    Key Cast
    "Uncle"
  • Tuguldur Chuluunbaatar
    Key Cast
    "Interpreter"
  • Régis Defurnaux
    Key Cast
    "Expedition leader"
  • Dominique Snyers
    Key Cast
    "Film Maker"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Travel, Adventure
  • Runtime:
    48 minutes 43 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 22, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    Belgium
  • Country of Filming:
    Mongolia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Dominique Snyers

For over 30 years, I've been introducing generations of young adventurers into the great outdoors, teaching them how to mitigate and embrace the risks that come with it.

More recently, as an extension of my passion for sharing, I've started making documentaries about the discoveries that these adventures bring. My film "Loic and the Flolopapys" won the Best Climbing Film award at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival in 2020.

With a Master's degree from Stanford University and a PhD from the University of Caen, I've also been a researcher in collective intelligence, a professor in engineering schools and the founder of several start-ups.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The reindeer herders of Mongolia - the Dukhas - are usually filmed in the summer with many clichés that reflect our own exotic and nostalgic visions more than their actual conditions. They are portrayed as the last of the nomads, even though they have houses in the nearest town to send their children to school; as close to nature, even though smartphones and satellite phones clutter their pockets; as living in harmony with their animals, even though they struggle to keep them alive in increasingly hot summers and cold winters due to climate change, which is already affecting the Siberian regions.

Our film is not meant to be an ethnographic study, but a real film with a raw perspective on the reality of pastoralism today and all the challenges these populations face. We will focus on transmission and the universal relationship between parents and children. What will Magsar and Ankhaa pass on to their children? Dawaadorj, the youngest, is outgoing, while Sumya, the eldest, is more reserved. What do they want to do with their lives compared to their parents' dreams? What will be left for future generations?

We follow this Dukha family through the winter, something that has rarely been done before. We follow their reindeer transhumance, which is also a first. Entering their habitat, sharing their lives, their questions, their worries: witnessing first-hand the relationship between parents and children, with the reindeer "in the middle".

We engage with them through our camera because we know them and respect them. We film on a human level, without effects, in a dynamic and close-up way, with only a few aerial shots to project these relationships into the immensity of the taiga. We observe each other from the same common human condition.