Veins of the World(HKAFF 2020)

Amra, an 11-year-old from a herder’s family, dreams of competing on Mongolia’s Got Talent, while his father leads the opposition against mining companies encroaching on the steppes. After Amra’s father suddenly dies in an accident, the boy gives up his fantasies and takes up his late father’s fight in his own way. Like her Oscar-nominated The Story of the Weeping Camel and The Cave of the Yellow Dog, director Byambasuren Davaa’s latest is an elegiac parable of Mongolian nomadic life. With crisp cinematography capturing both nature’s breathtaking beauty and the damage wrought by man, this coming-of-age story uses a child’s eye view to illustrate the forces threatening the traditional way of life.