Director Otto Bell on Traveling to Mongolia to Tell Inspiring Story ‘The Eagle Huntress’

Sandra Miska

For his first feature documentary “The Eagle Huntress,” British filmmaker Otto Bell traveled to the edge of the Earth to tell the inspiring story of one young girl’s quest to become the first woman to hunt with an eagle in Mongolia. Bell spoke with Entertainment Voice about filming in Mongolia, the bond he formed with his subject Aisholpan, and getting “Star Wars” star Daisy Ridley involved in the project.

How did you find out about eagle hunting?

I saw a photo of it on BBC.com. They published some photographers by a young Israeli photographer called Asher Svidensky. He had stumbled upon Aisholpan in the Altai Mountains. She was training with her dad’s eagle, and he took a series of just really stunning photos that the BBC picked up and published, like a photo essay. I was lucky enough to see them the day that they were published and they were fantastic. They’re so beautiful. I found Asher through Facebook, and then he and I had a video chat, and then I very quickly got on a plane and went to visit the family in Mongolia.

What was that experience like, meeting Aisholpan and her family for the first time and getting them interested in making a documentary?

Oh, it was lovely. The nomads of the area, they’re very welcoming. We filmed in the most remote part of the least populated country in the world. This nomadic tribe of Kazakh in northwest Mongolia, they’re very warm. They’re welcoming to travelers and tourists and people like that, because part of the culture is to welcome guests. It’s a very harsh environment at times, but they’re very welcoming. They’re used to having adventurous tourists come and live with them and spend a night or two learning about how it is that they live. They’re used to people with cameras photographing them and kind of being interested in their lives, so it wasn’t a leap for them to get involved in the film. In fact, I was talking to the family about maybe making a film and the father stood up and said, ‘Oh, well, we are going to go steal a baby eagle for Aisholpan. Do you want to film that?’ And we said, ‘Yes, of course. That sounds amazing.’ And that, as you saw, became the main part of the first act.

You filmed up in the snowy mountains where it was very slippery. Did you ever feel a threat of danger?

Yeah, I mean, when we were filming in minus 50. The final act of the film takes place in minus 50 degrees Celsius. That was cold. That felt pretty tough. The thing is, though, we took a lot of inspiration from Aisholpan and her father. They’re both very surefooted. They’ll wade through knee-deep snow… It was hard for us to sit there and complain about the conditions when they’re being really brave and pushing through it. I wasn’t too much worried about them, because they’re used to it. She’s been climbing rocks and mountains since she could walk.

How did you go about assembling a crew? Did you fly out with everyone? Or did you hire anyone local in Mongolia?

I made this film with a crew of three people. We did about seven or eight trips to Mongolia over the course of about a year to get all the footage that we needed for the final film. Some of the personnel on the crew would change depending on what we were going there to film. My main director of photography was a guy called Simon Niblett. He was fantastic. We used a local translator and a local driver.

How did you deal with the language barrier in Mongolia? Was it pretty easy once you had a translator on board?

The translator we used is actually a member of that family. Part of the extended family from the tribe, and he was really great. He learned his English from watching TV shows with the subtitles off, shows like ‘Friends.’ That was very helpful. This was my first feature-length film, but I’ve made some other short films through translators, so I was used to the process. But, yeah, it’s tough, because you can’t really direct your subject in the traditional sense. You have to give them a lot more leeway. You just have to observe more than direct, because they’re just getting on with their daily life and you just have to kind of keep up because of the language barrier.

Would you ever revisit Aisholpan?

Yes, she’s part of my family now. We’re like family now, all of us. They’re coming to my wedding next year in England. They’ve visited my home many times now. I’ve visited their home many times. We have set up a fund for her future education. She wants to be a doctor. We’ll be friends for life, I think.

What has it been like for Aisholpan now that the film has been shown all over the world? How have her and her father been dealing with their newfound fame?

I’m pleased to say there hasn’t been any massive culture shock. I haven’t seen them really change the way that they live at all, really. Aisholpan’s still very focused on becoming a doctor; that’s something that we want to help her with. One of the best things that’s happened since we made the film is that all the attention got her a free scholarship to a really great high school, one of the top three schools in the country, and it happens to be in her local neighborhood in Olgii, in the town in the film. And she’s been doing great. She’s learned Turkish and a lot more English. She’s really showing herself to be a great student. That’s been one of the really positive things that’s happened. But, no, none of them want to move to Hollywood or anything like that. I think they’re very happy with their lives.

How did Daisy Ridley become involved?

She called me before the night we premiered the film at Sundance. Her agent had shown her the film because she thought she’d be interested. She called me up and she was really, really moved by the film and had a lot of thoughtful things to say about it. She just asked me how she could help, and I had some title cards in the film, and I said, “It would be great if you could help with some of the narration.” She did, and it’s been wonderful. I think she’s lowered the entry age for kids. If you’re a girl or boy, it can be hard to keep with all the subtitles. She’s made it possible that 10, 11-year-old kids can enjoy the film and keep up with what’s happening, because she comes in at key moments and just explains briefly what’s going on. There’s only about five minutes of narration during the film, but I think it really helps.

What’s next for you?

We’re working on new documentary ideas. Maybe an animated version of the story, too.

Do you have any ideas as to the subject of your next documentary? Will it take place in another foreign country, outdoors, or closer to home?

I’ll always be in a foreign country and in the outdoor world.

“The Eagle Huntress” opens Nov. 2 in Los Angeles and New York, national release to follow.