Mujaan
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		documentary, ger, yurt, yurts, yurt making, craftsmanship, felting, Mongolia, Central Asia, making a ger, ger making, how to make a yurt

Film Overview

Directed By: Chris McKee View Official Website	Release Date: 2004-10-01 Running Time: 0:25 Content Rating: PG (Parental Guidance)	DVD Region: All Regions Media Format: DVD-R Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Subtitle Language(s): English
Genres: Travel >> Asia :: Short Films >> Real Life :: Documentary >> Places Influences: Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi, Witness

Synopsis

On the distant steppes of Mongolia, using only simple tools, strength and ingenuity, a nomad builds a home much the way his ancestors have for the past one thousand years. Mujaan (The Craftsman) is a vivid window to a disappearing way of life in a pristine wilderness.

Cast

Craftsman: Sukhbaatar | bio
Like many Mongolians, Sukhbaatar is named after Mongolia's hero of independence from China in 1921. In 2003 he was working as the head caretaker for a Mongolian tourist camp, building gers for locals during the off months.

Crew

Production Company: Ragcha Media | bio
Ragcha Media is Chris McKee's video production company in Venice, CA. He's working on a follow-up short to Mujaan called "From One to All," a short meditation on humanity's relationship to water.
Director: Chris McKee | bio
Chris taught English for the Peace Corps in Mongolia from 1996 to 1998. For eight months he lived in a "ger" (known in the West as a "yurt"). In the summer of 2003 he returned to record Mujaan, to capture the essence of the impression this temprary home left on him.

Bonus Features

Director Commentary
Music Videos
Scene Selections

Accolades

Awards

Special Jury Prize, Trento Mountain Film Festival
Jury's Choice Award, Wild & Scenic Film Festival
Best Documentary, Kansas City Filmmaker Jubilee
Best Short Documentary, First People's Film Festival

Festivals

Slamdance
Banff Mountain Film Festival
Cinequest
Short Shorts Film Festival
Sonoma Valley Film Festival
Au Trans Mountain Film Festival
Silver Lake Film Festival
Telluride Mountain Film Festival
Kendall Mountain Film Festival
Syracuse Film Festival

Press Reviews

Todd David Schwartz, CBS Radio | show/hide snippet
Four Stars (Highest Rating). An utterly fascinating glimpse into a way of life that very few Americans will ever have the opportunity to experience firsthand. With the help of a glorious, simple soundtrack, what we observe on the screen almost takes on a mystical, hypnotic quality. Christopher McKee has done a beautiful, beautiful job. Worthy of Oscar consideration
Professor Caroline Humphrey, Cambridge University, UK | show/hide snippet
This is a beautiful film of rural life in Mongolia. Carefully-constructed and thoughtfully paced, it really conveys the essence of what is today almost an ideal - the herding family's calm existence
Dennis Littrell | show/hide snippet
I was mesmerized by the artistry of McKee's technique and the way he used the various elements to tell his story, the story of building a shelter against the coming winds, a family's home made from materials at hand, a home that can be taken down and moved as the herds move to new grass, and put up again, the centerpiece of a nomadic way of life that has existed for millennia, a way of life that will soon be gone...captured on film.

Customer Reviews

My film review...
A dramatized documentary about the making of a "ger" (Mongolian "home", their version of the yurt) by a craftsman and his family on the plains of Mongolia. Beautifully filmed, full of great information about both craft and culture, a masterful first work.
-becky kemery, Sandpoint, ID, United States