The Eagle Huntress

Aisholpan is thirteen, the daughter of a Kazakh family in western Mongolia. Her father hunts with an eagle; the craft has passed from father to son for centuries. Aisholpan wants to learn it too. Her father agrees and has her take her own bird; she climbs down a cliff and lifts a chick from the nest. Then the training begins. At the end of the year she enters the region's eagle hunters' competition, with old men sitting at the judges' table. In winter the real hunting starts, and the matter is not a competition but finding a fox on the mountain. Otto Bell directs; Daisy Ridley narrates. It is a British, American and Mongolian co-production. The idea of training Aisholpan with an eagle reached the family through a project proposed by the photographer Asher Svidensky. The film's claim that she is the first female eagle hunter was criticised; women had hunted with eagles before, among them Makpal Abdrazakova. The documentary presented the objections of local elders as resistance from a centuries old tradition; critics found that framing exaggerated. The film was expected among the documentary nominees at the Oscars and did not make the list. The matter it treats is the door; what stands in the girl's way is not ability but a settled belief about who is allowed. The photography shoots the mountains and the hunt from the air, and it is the strongest thing in the film. Some scenes give the impression of being staged and the documentary line was argued over. The ending closes on the father's pride. Its limit is trustworthiness; the narrative simplifies the facts to raise the drama. Who it is for: viewers who like nature documentaries and stories of a young hero. Who it is not for: how much is staged is contested, the narrative is simple, and the ending is what you expect.