Friendly Mongolia (1987)

COCKCON 2020

A brief moment at a hacker conference planted a seed that would eventually spawn an ad-hoc motorcycle gang in the Orkhon Valley of Mongolia. Join Vincent Canfield and the COCKCON crew as they ride motorcycles for the first time through one of the least densely populated countries in the world.

The Story of the Weeping Camel

When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.

In the Frozen Tomb of Mongolia

Plot unavailable

Eastern Memories

At the turn of the 19th and 20th century Finnish philologist G. J. Ramstedt travelled around Mongolia and Central-Asia. In this documentary Ramstedt’s memoirs are heard in the modern day setting, where tradition is replaced with hunger for money, and deserts give way to cities.

The Bounty Hunter of Mongolia

In the Darhat valley in northern Mongolia, the horses of nomadic tribes are stolen by bandits who then sell them to Russian slaughterhouses. Shukhert, a brave horseman, relentlessly pursues them through the Mongolian taiga, bordering Siberia.

Nomad Meets the City

Currently Mongolia’s capital has 1.5 million inhabitants - half the population of the country. 50-year Tumurbaatar is only one of many coming to the city to fulfil their dreams of a better life.

First Ascent / Last Ascent

Best friends Hazel Findlay and Maddy Cope journey to the rocky outer reaches of Mongolia, on a quixotic search for new trad routes.

Mongolia: Eternal Blue Heaven

Film for an exhibit on Mongolia in San Francisco.

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan

The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan, a slave who went on to conquer half the world in the 11th century.

My Beautiful Jinjiimaa

My Beautiful Jinjiimaa is an emotional romantic drama in a setting few in the U.S. have ever seen. A deaf woman, Jinjiimaa, is raped by the local party Chairman, and shoots her attacker. Her lifelong friend, lame farmer Sukhee, goes to prison for six years for Jinjimaa’s crime. The film begins with his return, where Sukhee and Jinjiimaa meet—each with a secret.

If Only I Could Hibernate

Ulzii, a teenager from a poor neighborhood in Ulaanbaatar, is determined to win a sciences-physics competition to get a scholarship. His illiterate mother finds a job in the countryside, leaving him and his brother and sister in the middle of winter. Ulzii wanders around at night looking for things to burn for heat while preparing for the national competition.

Khadak

Set in the frozen steppes of Mongolia, a young nomad is confronted with his destiny after animals fall victim to a plague which threatens to eradicate nomadism.

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

The little nomad girl, Nansal, finds a baby dog in the Mongolian veld, who becomes her best friend - against all rejections of her parents. A story about a Mongolian family of nomads - their traditional way of life and the rising call of the City.

The Warrior

In 1375, China was in chaos between Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Coryo (an ancient kingdom of Korea then) sent a delegation of many diplomats, soldiers and a silent slave to make peace with the new Chinese government. However, this delegation got charged as spies and sent in exile to a remote desert.

Flight of the Phoenix

When an oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, an aircraft crew are sent to shut the operation down and fly them out. On the flight out over the desert on the way to Beijing, Capt. Frank Towns and co-pilot A.J. are unable to keep their cargo plane, a C-119 Flying Boxcar, in the air when a violent sandstorm strikes. Crash-landing in a remote uncharted part of the desert, the two pilots and their passengers -- a crew of oil workers and a drifter -- must work together to survive by rebuilding the aircraft. Soon, low supplies and a band of merciless smugglers add even greater urgency to their task.

Genghis Khan

During the 12th Century a boy is born to a tribal chief. He is named Temujin, which means "blacksmith." Nine years later, his father is murdered by the Tartars After a long struggle, just when Temujin reclaims tribal chief status, the Merkit tribe kidnaps his wife. In order to fight against the Merkits, Temujin has to use his mother as a pawn in exchange for troops from ally tribes. Temujin manages to rescue his wife only to realise that she is pregnant with the enemy's child. Enduring tremendous anguish, Temujin throws himself into battle against the Tartars and slaughters the leader of the intruders. He eventually takes his wife back and accepts her child. Later on, he begins a campaign to unify all Mongolian tribes. By the age of 40, he is bestowed the title "Genghis Khan", which means "oceanic ruler".

Harvest Moon

Tulgaa returns to his native village to care for his dying stepfather, honouring his remaining commitments by offering to lend a hand with the summer harvest. But upon witnessing Tulgaa’s clumsy first attempts, Tuntuulei, a sassy 10-year-old boy, takes it upon himself to school the city slicker on the grassland ways. Despite getting off on the wrong foot, the two soon find common ground and form a delicate bond that will transform their lives.

Mongolian Death Worm

When an American oil company sets up an experimental drilling plant out in the vast deserts of Mongolia, they awaken a nest. The deadly creatures begin to breed and spread, devouring everyone in their path. The only person who can stop them is treasure hunter and adventure seeker who spent his life searching for a legendary tomb, fabled to be protected by the Death Worms. He knows he must do what he can to kill the creatures, but stopping these monsters may mean destroying his life's work forever!

Ninja White

It’s an icy cold winter in Ulaanbaatar. Abel, a young French cartographer living in Mongolia, goes to a seminar with his new colleagues. After an evening of drinking, he wakes up in a camp of yurts out in the steppe, alone. Lost, he decides to take to the road in the biting cold. Luckily, he is picked up by a gang of nomadic bikers who dig gold illegally and shoot drones: real ninjas.

Anu and Huyga

This movie was produced by the beauty brand Lancome and fashion magazine Marie Claire’s collaboration to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th.

A Pearl in the Forest

This is a story about a young couple whose newly planned life was destroyed by the impact of the Great Purges of 1934–1938 in Mongolia. The main goal of this movie was to provide a testimony for the many Buryats and Mongolians who were persecuted during the Great Purges initiated by Joseph Stalin. In 1937 and 1938, many people, and even entire families, were killed after being wrongfully accused of conspiracies. The movie was shot on location near the Buryat village of Dadal in the Khentii province of Mongolia. The acting and other participation of many local villagers was a great addition to the authenticity of the film

The Golden Eagle

'Golden Eagle' is crowned wrestling champion at the Aobao Meeting, but subsequent conflicts break out between Glden Eagle and the Lord of Ba-yin. Expelled from the tribe, he meets and falls in love with San-Tan. But their affair arouses the jealousy of her suitor Chaganhu.

The Horde

It is the word "horde" that had meant, for many countries and nations, bloody raids and being under humilating contribution for centuries - a strange and scary world with its own rules and customs. To be or not to be for Rus (Ruthenia), that is the price of the one-man mission as he is departing to this world to accomplish a feat. The film tells the story of how Saint Alexius, the Metropolitan of Moscow and Wonderworker of All Russia, healed the Tatar Queen Taidula, Jani-Beg's mother, from blindness, in 1357.

The Fourfold

Based on the shamanic rituals in Mongolia and Siberia, this is a testament to the need to reclaim the ideas of animism for planetary health and non-human materialities.

Time of Hurtle

In 1911, Bogd Khan, with the help of his trusted spy Natsag, declares Mongolia’s independence. However, by 1928, the rise of the Comintern introduces a new threat. Under the guise of eliminating Baruuntan influence, the Comintern forces its control over Mongolia, shutting down religious monasteries and seizing private property. Riots erupt, forcing many to flee as the country descends into chaos. Natsag’s family, once secure, is swept into this storm, facing a personal and political unraveling as Mongolia enters its dark time.

Voyage

A young psychiatrist ventures into a lone voyage to fight his depression. While at sea, he records stories of people departed from this world prematurely, while what awaits him on the shore is the ultimate irony of life.

Princess Tana

Plot unavailable

In the Dawn

A recently widowed affluent woman, Undral, faces an inevitable challenge when she must bring her late husband's former wife to the city from the countryside.

She's Beautiful When She's Angry

A documentary that resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women's movement from 1966 to 1971.

Belgique nazie

Plot unavailable

Prison Fighters: Five Rounds to Freedom

After seven years in a Thai prison, a former Muay Thai champion joins a controversial government program that allows inmates to fight for their freedom. A victory in his final fight will grant him a royal pardon and bring him one step closer to the son he left behind.

Stelvio: Crossroads of Peace

Plot unavailable

Lindy Lou, Juror Number 2

Documentary about the jurors in a murder trial who handed out the death sentence to the defendant, and how their attitudes have changed 20+ years later.

Trumbull Land

Everyone has seen a Trumbull sequence in Stanley Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey", Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" or Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Recognized and respected SFX maestro, he has also directed two full-length films which left their mark on sci-fi cinema: "Silent Running" and "Brainstorm". Today, at over 70, Trumbull-the-pioneer continues his quest for innovation and still dreams of a cinema which places spectators into the film. "Trumbull Land" is an immersive portrait of Douglas Trumbull in his studios and a diving headfirst in his cinema.

Lion Queen

Nakuru National Park in Kenya is rather like a reform centre for wayward youth. Take Scarface: as a young lioness with a reputation for killing sheep and cattle, she was due to be shot. Instead, she was chosen to establish a new pride in Nakuru. Wildlife film-maker Barbara Tyack chronicles the life of this special lion family with a weakness for climbing trees. Fabulous camerawork captures great chase sequences, some gory ones, and the odd romance

Kamala Harris: the USA’s Next President?

Plot unavailable

Sam Fuller & the Big Red One

A documentary shot during the production of Samuel Fuller's film The Big Red One.

Music Inn

During a decade rife with paranoia, in the middle of the McCarthy era, Music Inn was a bold experiment. Halfway between the Second World War and The Civil Rights Movement, Phil and Stephanie Barber created an oasis in the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts where aspiring musicians came to learn from the very best. Students and faculty, young and old, rich and poor, white, black, and brown convened together and learned from each other. Defying the surrounding environment, Music Inn harbored a racial and cultural harmony where music was all that mattered.

The Hamas System

The attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023 changed the world. It is the greatest crime against Jews since the Holocaust of the German National Socialists, committed by Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas. The documentary examines how a terrorist organization could become the strongest political force in the Gaza Strip. What are its goals and how could Hamas grow into a company with an annual turnover of several hundred million dollars? Terrorism researchers, ethnologists and contemporary witnesses analyze the history and present of Hamas, whose main goal is the destruction of the State of Israel. Documents show how children are manipulated with anti-Western and anti-Israeli propaganda through television programs and in school lessons. Images show how minors are trained to be terrorists in Hamas summer camps. In interviews, experts report how the ideology of the Hamas movement is also spilling over into Europe and bringing with it a whole new dimension of anti-Semitism.

Sketches of Frank Gehry

First and foremost, Frank Gehry is an artist. Described as a young child as having golden hands, Frank begins his creation through sketch. Forming thought into substantive sculpture, the marriage of art and architechure is brought to life. Join director Sydney Pollack on a journey into the world and work of the most important architect of our Age.

Strange, Abandoned, Deranged

Turkey's first “eco” hotel, Naturland Eco Park and Resort, opened in 1991 and operated until 2014. A hybrid of documentary, black satirical comedy and circus-style performance, the film builds on fictional voice-overs that depict the experiences of hotel guests and staff and the gradual decay of the once-pompous and now dilapidated abandoned complex, which was closed due to overwhelming debts and left virtually untouched.

Paul McCartney: The Backyard

Paul McCartney performs some acoustic numbers in the garden of Abbey Road Studios.

The Family Approach

Between parental love, youth welfare offices and bureaucracy, three educators try their hardest to create a temporary home for children. This is not always easy, as the most diverse personalities and their stories clash here. And yet the residential group becomes a kind of surrogate family for the children. At the back of their minds, however, is always the question: for how long?

A State of Rage

In the West Bank, children grow up amidst a harsh and unforgiving reality. Daily life for Palestinians in Jenin Refugee Camp is shaped by the Israeli occupation, and the violence and oppression that comes with it. On the hills near Nablus, a Jewish settler family navigate the personal sacrifices and grief that come with their decision to live in an illegal settlement. They are resolute in their belief to remove Palestinians and settle the land. Children and their parents from both these areas search for their place in a world defined by violence and polarization.

Breaking the Silence: The Maria Soledad Case

In '90s Argentina, the murder of a high school student sparks widespread protests. Retold by her loved ones, this documentary shows their fight for justice.