April 25 to May 5, 2024
FILM FESTIVAL
Hot Docs
Hot Docs 2024
PROGRAMME
Festival Favourites
A Mongolian woman splits her time being a mother and a member of a Nationalist gang in Daughter of Genghis. Gerel Byamba is a Mongolian woman, who leads an all-woman Nationalist gang, specifically fighting against prostitution, in a quest for Mongolian purity. However, during the day, Gerel is mother to her young son Temuulen. When the hang begins to fall apart, Gerel begins to question her violent ways and how they affect her relationship with Temuulen.
Daughter of Genghis Synopsis
Daughter of Genghis is a documentary directed by Christian Als and Kristoffer Juel Poulsen about Mongolian Nationalist Gerel Byamba, who claims herself to be a direct descendant of Genghis Khan. Taking place over seven years, the film introduces Gerel at her most radicalized, trying to clean Mongolia of corruption and Chinese oppression. However, Gerel soon begins to change her ways, in part due to the love she has for her son Temuulen.
My Thoughts on Daughter of Genghis
Danish filmmakers Christian Als and Kristoffer Juel Poulsen take a fly-on-a-wall approach with Daughter of Genghis, observing the ultra-nationalism of Gerel Byamba with no intervention. This includes immense prejudice against Chinese nationals and sex workers and trying to retake the swastika as a Mongolian symbol of power. This results in Gerel being an immensely dislikeable subject for at least half the film, especially when she has no qualms about abandoning her child to do her Nationalist work. While Gerel Byamba does soften her stance in the seven years she is followed, Daughter of Genghis is still a documentary that’s hard to view completely objectively.
Trailer for Daughter of Genghis – Hot Docs 2024
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