Bayandalai – Lord of the Tioga
Directors: Aner Etxebarria Moral and Pablo Vidal Santos
Country of Origin: Spain
2018
From inside his yurt deep within the heart of the Taiga, Bayandalai ‒an elder of the Dukhas tribe‒ muses about the significance of life and death in the largest forest on Earth. He is the last of the great reindeer herders of the Taiga.
Director Statement:
Bayandalai represents one of the last bonds of purity between humans and wild nature in the mountains. When our filming crew entered the depth of the Taiga in search of the secrets of the Duka ethnic and their ancestral pact with the reindeers, we found out the keys of a past world, almost extinct, isolated and forgotten. The last breath of a culture that had no need of training, technology, or economical resources to maintain intact the ecosystem of the biggest boreal forest of our planet. During the 30 days we were lost in the immensity of the forest, Bayandalai and his family revealed the keys of life and death. The most significant, vital and transcendent purpose of a culture that well into the 21st century tries to survive an uncertain future, turning their backs on modernity to die in the way they were born, being the Lords of the Taiga.
Aner Etxebarria Moral and Pablo Vidal Santos
Producer: Lara IzagirreLine Producer: Itxaso Espinal Etxabarren
Editor: Actor Aspe Fid
Production Assistants: Ana Angulo Umaran and Itxaso Frau Terradillos
DoP and Drone Operator: Yeray Martin Perdomo
Original Soundtrack: Joseba Brit Elola
Visual Effects: Aitor Aspe Fid
Production Sound Mixer: Luca de Santis Claure
Sound Editor and Post-Production Sound Mixer: Xabi Agirre
Sound Post-Production Studio: Abadetxe Sorlekua
Color Correction Studio: Elamedia Estudios
Graphic Design: Marina Goñi Estudio
Fixer Team: Ben Moyle, Fixers Mongolia
Key Cast: Bayandalai Badam, Tsetsegmaa Gorshig, Khosbagana Bayandalai, Khos-Erdene Bayandalai, Gantulga Khosbayar, Sansargarav Khosbgana, and Khosyargal Bayandalai