“Mountain Cat” is a film about a troubled teenage girl coerced into seeing a local shaman in search of spiritual healing. Trapped by ancient beliefs that serve only to pacify her mother, she finds peace in the physical realm by unleashing her repressed, youthful spirit on the unsuspecting shaman when she realises his true identity. Written and directed by emerging filmmaker Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, the film is selected as part of the Short Film Competition of the 73rd Cannes Film Festival. This is the first short Mongolian film ever to compete at Cannes.
Starring young filmmaker Azzaya Munkhbat and actor Dulguun Ganbaatar, “Mountain Cat'' was made with the collaboration of 3Ochir Films, Guru Media and Poisson Rouge Pictures (UK). In supporting roles are Mongolian People’s Honored Artist Delgerjargal Sharav, acting teachers Sarangerel Sukhbaatar of CITI University and Munkh-Od Purev of School of Theatre Arts at Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture. Additionally, the Mongolian crew included Indian cinematographer Krish Makhija, Austrian editor Madlen Sieghartsleitner, and Dmix Sound Studio artists. Ariunaa Tserenpil and Christopher Granier-Deferre produced the film that was shot on location in Ulaanbaatar in September, 2019, with post-production in Lisbon, Portugal.
Purev-Ochir commented “This is amazing news for the team especially in these strange times. So honored and thankful that the hard work the team invested into the project is being recognized and celebrated." Tserenpil added “To be the first Mongolian short film to be selected to this prestigious festival is a real honour. It’s a magnificent acknowledgement of the country’s burgeoning film industry at such a crucial time”.
Although Cannes Film Festival was cancelled due to Covid-19, the festival remains committed to supporting the film industry and raising awareness of the films selected for this year.
Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir is a Mongolian filmmaker currently pursuing her PhD in screenwriting in Lisbon, Portugal. She graduated with MA in screenwriting from KinoEyes European Filmmaking Masters. “Mountain Cat” is her third short film, and she is set to direct her first feature film “Ze” with the support of Guru Media and Aurora Films (France). The feature project was selected for the Locarno Open Doors 2019 Lab and, in 2020, for the Locarno Open Doors Hub, having also been supported by the Torino Film Lab in the interim.