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If Only I Could Hibernate film image

If Only I Could Hibernate

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North American Premiere

Zoljargal Purevdash’s lively feature made a splash at this year’s Cannes, where it screened in the Un Certain Regard program and announced the arrival of a refreshing new voice in world cinema. Set in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, If Only I Could Hibernate tells a story of perseverance and courage. Batsooj Uurtsaikh plays Ulzii, a teen with a gift for physics who is encouraged to enter a national competition. The payoff for victory is sweet: a full-ride university scholarship and, eventually, the chance for Ulzii to lift his family out of crushing poverty.

Handsomely shot in ’Scope, Purevdash’s film unfolds in the classroom, the ice-cold outdoors, and the lateral confines of the family yurt. As usual for teen-centred films, the home is a place of bitter struggle; once Ulzii’s alcoholic mother (Ganchimeg Sandagdordorj) departs, that struggle is for basic subsistence. Amid the scramble for coal, medicine, and food, the protagonist has to master physics— a tall order indeed, but it makes for richly compelling cinema.

Director
Cast

Battsooj Uurtsaikh, Nominjiguur Tsend, Tuguldur Batsaikhan, Batmandakh Batchuluun, Ganchimeg Sandagdorj

Credits
Country of Origin

Mongolia/France/
Switzerland/Qatar

Year

2023

Series

Panorama

Language

In Mongolian with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
98 min
Drama Women Directors

Book Tickets

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Credits

Producer

Frédéric Corvez, Maéva Savinien, Zoljargal Purevdash

Screenwriter

Zoljargal Purevdash

Cinematography

Davaanyam Delgerjargal

Editor

Alexandra Strauss

Production Design

Binderiya Munkhbat

Original Music

Johanni Curtet

Director

Zoljargal Purevdash headshot

Zoljargal Purevdash

Zoljargal Purevdash is a Mongolian filmmaker who studied filmmaking at the University of Obirin, in Japan. Her short films were screened at Tampere Film Festival, Short Shorts Film Festival Asia, Open Doors Locarno Film Festival, etc. In 2021, her short film Stairs won the first prize at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and entered the 94th Oscars Award. She is an alumnus of Talents Tokyo, Asian Film Academy, Locarno Open Doors, Torino Film Lab, and Berlinale Talents.

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