The Story of the Weeping Camel film poster

The Story of the Weeping Camel is a 2003 Mongolian documentary produced by ThinkFilm. It was released internationally in 2004. The movie was directed and written by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni. The plot is about a family of nomadic shepherds in the Gobi desert trying to save the life of a rare white camel calf after it was rejected by its mother. The documentary was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Documentary at the 77th Academy Awards. Download high resolution version (539x761, 128 KB)Movie poster for The Story of the Weeping Camel, deemed fair use This work is copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (539x761, 128 KB)Movie poster for The Story of the Weeping Camel, deemed fair use This work is copyrighted. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2003. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... ThinkFilm is a distibutor of independent films which was founded in 2001. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Byambasuren Davaa (1971 in Ulaanbaatar - ) is a Mongolian film maker currently residing in Germany. ... Communities of nomadic people move from place to place, rather than settling down in one location. ... In a draw in a mountainous region, a shepherd guides a flock of about 20 sheep amidst scrub and olive trees. ... The Gobi is a large desert region in northern China and southern Mongolia. ... Desert view in Saudi Arabia. ... Species Camelus bactrianus Camelus dromedarius A camel is either of the two species of large even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus, the Dromedary (single hump) and the Bactrian Camel (double hump). ... Cattle calf A Calf (plural calves) is the young of an animal. ... Academy Awards The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States and most watched awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is one of the most prestigious awards for documentary films. ... 77th Academy Awards Sunday, February 27, 2005 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California Hosts Preshow: Billy Bush, Jann Carl, Chris Connelly & Shaun Robinson Show: Chris Rock Crew Producer: Gilbert Cates Director: Louis J. Horvitz Duration 3 hours, 10 minutes The 77th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for...

Plot

• Tagline: Some fairy tales are true...some legends are real.

During a spring season, a family of nomadic shepherds assists the births of their camel herd. One of the camels has an excruciatingly difficult delivery but, with help from the family, out comes a rare white calf. Despite the efforts of the shepherds, the mother rejects the newborn, coldly refusing it her milk and her motherly love. When any hope for the little one seems to have vanished, the nomads send their two young boys on a journey through the desert, in search of a musician. Finally a violinist is summoned to the camp and a breathtaking ritual of folk music and chanting is performed. The archaic sound of the horse-head violin along with the melodic singing of one of the women elicit deep emotion into the mother camel's heart: when her young is brought to her again, she breaks into tears and finally allows it the milk it needs to survive. A tagline is a variant of an advertising slogan typically used in movie marketing, commercials, and websites. ... Spring is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. ... A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. ... Folk Music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the common people. ...

The movie effortlessly blends drama, nature documentary, and ethnographic theme in a single film. Both the directors drew upon the documentary style of Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North), who recreated events to comprehensively portray his subjects. The pair tirelessly filmed spontaneous events for much of the mother-baby story, but chose to recreate certain moments in the family's daily life. The shots of a desert storm in the majestic landscape make it clear just how difficult circumstances were for working. A particularly humorous and insightful example involves a young boy who clearly feels conflicted between his family life and his desire for a more Western life. The film creates a contrast between the two, showing the boy listening to traditional fables in his family's tent, but then dreaming about owning a television. The film too provides a visually enchanting and unique learning experience. It speaks to the very nature of love--the baby camel cannot survive without his mother, just as no animal or person can. Ethnography (from the Greek ethnos = nation and graphe = writing) refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on months or years of fieldwork. ... Robert Joseph Flaherty (February 16, 1884, Iron Mountain, Michigan, United States - July 23, 1951, Dummerston, Vermont) was a filmmaker who directed and produced the first feature length documentary (Nanook of the North) in 1922. ... Promotional poster for Nanook of the North Nanook of the North is a silent documentary film by Robert J. Flaherty, released in 1922. ...

Cast

• Janchiv Ayurzana
• Chimed Ohin
• Amgaabazar Gonson
• Zeveljamz Nyam
• Ikhbayar Amgaabazar
• Odgerel Ayusch
• Enkhbulgan Ikhbayar
• Uuganbaatar Ikhbayar
• Guntbaatar Ikhbayar

External links

• Official site
• Promotional site for US region
• The Story of the Weeping Camel at The Internet Movie Database
• Nomadic Tradition