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Professional photographer and The Eagle Huntress co-producer Asher Svidensky will be joining this year's Meaford International Film Festival (MIFF) via Zoom to discuss the 2016 film.

Mr. Svidensky travelled to Mongolia where he photographed a nomadic family using eagles to hunt for food, eventually discovering Aisholpan, the star of the film.

It was through his work that Otto Bell, the film's director, read of Aisholpan's story and then set out to make the film.

This spellbinding documentary follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old nomadic Mongolian girl who is fighting to become the first female eagle hunter in twelve generations of her Kazakh family.

Through breathtaking aerial cinematography and intimate verité footage, the film captures her personal journey while addressing universal themes such as female empowerment, the natural world, coming of age, and the onset of modernity.

After completing his service in Israel as a military photographer, Mr. Svidensky decided to pick up his camera and follow his dream of becoming a traveling photographer.

Since then, his main body of work as a photographer has been published in a variety of magazines, newspapers, and media outlets all around the world, most notably of which are National Geographic, BBC and UNICEF.

“Asher was in Mongolia during the shooting of the film and I'm very excited to hear about his experiences during production,” said Anna den Hengst, artistic director of MIFF.

The screening will take place at Meaford Hall Thursday, Aug. 31, at 7:00 p.m.

More information and tickets are available at meafordfilmfest.ca.

Evening showing: Thursday, Aug. 31, at 7:00 p.m.
Director: Otto Bell
Language: Kazahk, English
Country: UK, Mongolia, USA
Awards: 22 nominations and 9 wins, nominated for 1 BAFTA award
Rating: G
Runs: 1 hr 20 mins

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source: media release, Meaford Culture Foundation