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.
Battsooj Uurtsaikh, Nominjiguur Tsend, Tuguldur Batsaikhan, Batmandakh Batchuluun, Ganchimeg Sandagdorj
Mongolia/France/
Switzerland/Qatar
2023
Panorama
In Mongolian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
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
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.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Baltimorons
An early Xmas present and the rom-com of the year: a dental emergency on Christmas Eve brings together flailing comedian Chris and cynical divorcee Didi for a series of low-key urban misadventures.
You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine
A remarkable line up of artists come together to share their love for the great American singer-songwriter John Prine, including Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Kurt Vile and Kasey Musgraves.
The Secret Agent
Having run afoul of an influential bureaucrat in Brazil’s military dictatorship circa 1977, Marcelo decamps to Recife to live under an assumed name — but he’ll soon come to understand precisely how rampant the country’s corruption has become.
Cutting Through Rocks
Winner of Sundance's World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Cutting Through Rocks follows Sara Shahverdi — motorcyclist, midwife, and first-ever councilwoman elected in her Iranian village. A vérité triumph by Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni.
