Taskovski Movies has acquired world rights to the Danish doc “Daughter of Genghis,” produced by “The Misplaced Leonardo’s” Andreas Dalsgaard for Elk Movie. The debut function of award-winning photo-journalists Kristoffer Juel Poulsen and Christian Als will world premiere within the F:ACT competitors part of the main worldwide documentary pageant CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. Selection has secured the trailer in exclusivity.

“‘Daughter of Genghis’ is a compelling exploration of worldwide extremism, delving into emotional dynamics and pathways to radicalization,” mentioned Irena Taskovski, CEO of U.Okay.-based Taskovski Movies. “In opposition to the backdrop of Mongolia’s wrestle for sovereignty amidst geopolitical tensions, the movie highlights the resilience of its primary character, Gerel Byamba.”

“With its potent mix of geopolitical relevance and nuanced character portrayal, the movie guarantees important business potential and broad viewers enchantment,” she added.

The massive collective filmmaking effort, which concerned quite a few journeys between Denmark and Mongolia and greater than 200 hours of footage from two cameras, first began in August 2015, when Als and his former colleague from the Danish College of Journalism Knud Brix determined to research the rise of right-wing extremism in Mongolia, to set it in a world context. Brix later left the venture to affix the Danish newspaper Ekstra-Bladet as editor-in-chief.

“Along with Knud, we did a analysis journey in Mongolia; we knew it wouldn’t be straightforward to infiltrate this milieu, however I had expertise in having access to underworlds,” mentioned Als, who’d lined a number of wars and catastrophe zones, in an interview with Selection. That is when he first encountered the charismatic Gerel, chief of the ultra-nationalist female-only motion Gerel Khas. Whereas combating prostitution, the crushing affect of neighboring China, and eager for the previous glory of her nation below Genghis Khan rule, Gerel was additionally struggling to lift her son Temuulen on her personal.

“She instantly stood out, not solely due to her stature, however due to her fierce persona and imaginative and prescient. She was dreaming of a greater future for Mongolia, with girls on the coronary heart of it,” Als mentioned.

Dalsgaard, who delivered to the venture his anthropological background, private data of Central Asia and 15-plus yr expertise in doc filmmaking, mentioned what satisfied him to give attention to Gerel’s story was the truth that “her imaginative and prescient was inconsistent along with her actions.” “She had clearly been on the flawed path, for a few years. We not often see this in documentaries. Both girls are function fashions or victims. Right here, we had a really advanced character, unhealthy and good on the similar time, struggling to search out her inside self and to be a good mom.”

The producer factors out that when the filmmaking staff first approached her, she had simply damaged away from the male neo-Nazi gangs to arrange her women-only group, which “embraced the swastika as an historical Buddhist image, standing for religious energy and energy. She nonetheless had a radical right-wing agenda, however had renounced the Nazi discourse.”

Within the movie, we see Gerel remodel. As her gang falls aside, she regularly renounces her violent strategies, confronts her previous traumas and secrets and techniques that she shares with Temuulen, whereas letting the filmmakers enter her inner-journey of self-acceptance.

Essential to the filmmaking staff’s skill to convey their venture to fruition was their collaboration with anthropologist Elizabeth Fox, who had been main analysis on Mongolia since 2012 and served as translator and line producer on the movie. Als and Juel Poulsen additionally praised the work of editor and co-writer Estephan Wagner (“These Who Soar,” “Songs of Repression”), in addition to modifying supervisor Per Okay. Kierkegaard (“The Cave,” “Armadillo”).

Discussing their observational cinematic approach, Dalsgaard mentioned having two cameras made it potential to edit and movie on the similar time, and the pure conversations and essential encounters within the movie have been the results of the tightly-knit relationship with Gerel, who merely invited the filmmakers to seize these scenes.

“As we stored coming again, repeatedly to Mongolia, we gained plenty of belief from Gerel, who regularly opened up,” added Juel Poulsen. “This allowed us to be a part of extraordinary scenes.”

“Simply hanging out with Gerel, speaking, and typically not even filming, was the recipe,” Als mentioned.

Finally, Dalsgaard hopes that “Daughter of Genghis” will problem the normal, usually clichéd imaginative and prescient that folks have of Mongolia, as “an unique nation of nomads and eagle hunters. Right here we have now a really up to date story, which digs into the complexities of nationhood, of being an indigenous nomadic individuals, however in a really trendy context,” he underscored.

The seasoned producer and director of the multi-awarded “The Warfare Present” additionally sees the movie as a method to interact within the topical debate of nationalism.

“At a time the place we’re experiencing big societal divide, within the U.S. and Europe, it’s essential to grasp the place nationalist and populist sentiments come from. And this movie reveals, from a human perspective, what results in extremism and violence,” claimed Dalsgaard, earlier than including: “Gerel will get us into her trauma that fuels her hate, and takes us on her journey, away from that. That is how she will make a constructive contribution to Mongolia, which was at all times what was driving her.”

The documentary was produced by Elk Movie, in co-production with France’s Pumpernickel Movies and Sweden’s Mantaray Movie. Broadcasters concerned embody Denmark’s pubcaster DR and Norway’s net channel VGTV.

Apart from “Daughter of Genghis,” Taskovski Movies can be showcasing in CPH:DOX’s Spotlight part Nemanja Vojinovic’s “Bottlemen,” Sarajevo fest’s greatest doc final yr.