The Story of the Weeping Camel

A nomad family lives with its camels in the Gobi desert. It is the birthing season. One of the camels has a hard labour and the calf born is white. The mother does not accept it; she will not let it feed or come near, and the calf begins to die. The family tries everything it knows. Nothing works. One old way is left: a musician will be called and a ritual performed for the camel. The two boys of the household are sent to the town. There is television in the town and the boys linger there. The musician comes to the tent at last. Byambasuren Davaa directs and writes with Luigi Falorni. The film began as a graduation project at the television and film school in Munich. It is a German production. The film was nominated for the Oscar for best documentary. It was shot on location in the desert with a real family and non actors; because the plot is arranged the film stands between documentary and fiction. The matter it treats is a bond; whether the ritual works is not explained scientifically and the film does not try to explain it. The camera does not interfere with the family; the daily work is recorded as it is. The line about the boys going to town quietly describes nomadic life changing. The music in the film is not a device of narrative but the event itself. The narrative does not humanise the animals. The ending closes on the ritual. Its limit is pace; the narrative is very slow, little happens, and the tension stays low throughout. Who it is for: viewers who like slow documentary and are curious about nomadic life. Who it is not for: it is still, uneventful, and the ending quiet.