Sleepless / Repeat Until Death
Novo Amor
2019 / 13:07 min
A Mongolian miner takes his sick daughter away from the heavily polluted city to see the shaman. Upon finding a new home with the reindeer herders in the forest, he learns that this world too is changing.
Double Music Video | Original Story | Documentary | Drama | Filmed November 20 - December 8, 2018 | Film Red Gemini | 4096x1716 | 2:39 | Colour | Location Ulaanbaatar, Taiga, Mongolia | Premiere February 21, 2019, The Fader & Youtube
Featured Clash | Ecohustler | Fader | LBB Online | PromoNews | Shots | The Stable
Reach Sleepless Youtube 1M+
Reach Repeat Until Death Youtube 1.5M+
Winner Special Award Eatsa Film Festival 2021, Portugal | Best Cinematography Fastnet Film Festival 2021, West Cork, Ireland | Premio Cinema E Sviluppo Sostenibile Malescorto International Film Festival 2021, Malesco, Italy | Best Photography Ushuaia SHH International Mountain Film Festival 2020, Ushuaia, Argentina | Festival Prize Crossroads Section, Festival Cine De Montana Petrelda 2020, Elda, Spain | Best Cinematography 15th Edition Of Dieciminuti Film Festival 2020, Ceccano, Italy | Best Soundtrack 15th Edition of Dieciminuti Film Festival 2020, Ceccano, Italy | Gülden Glöbe Short Film Festival Kontrast 2020, Bayreuth, Germany | Premio Mejor Film Encrucijada Cuenta Montes 2020, Spain | Special Merit Award Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival 2019, KL, Malaysia | Best Short Film Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival 2019, KL, Malaysia | 2nd Prize Best Film Festival Of The Shortest Night 2019, Arnhem, Netherlands
Written & Directed by Jorik Dozy & Sil van der Woerd | Production Company New Frontier Pictures | Producer Sean Lin | Line Producer Byambadorj Altankhuyag | Cinematographer Nicholas Chin | Nergui/Father Yalalt Namsrai | Altan/Daughter Munkhjin Bayanmunkh | Shaman As Himself Ganbat Sandag | Eiji/Man With Reindeer Ochirbat Jambaldorj | Bayanmunkh/Nergui’s Brother Bayanmunkh Erdenebaatar | Tsataan People As Themselves Women Purevee Jambaldorj, Munkhtsetseg Nyamjav, Buyantogtokh Sandag, Tsetseg Jambaldorj, Suren Eregzel, Mama Munkhuu | Men Battulga Khurelgaldan | AC/BTS Skaiste Kazragyte | Line Production Company Horizon Quest LLC | Line Producer Byambadorj Altankhuyag | Unit Production Manager Miyegombo Alexander | Production Coordinator Bujinlkham Myagmarjav | Cook Ankhbayar Borkhuu | Driver Sansar Khaisvai, khagvadorj Lodonsharav | Edit Jorik Dozy & Sil van der Woerd | Colorist Keidrych Wasley | CG Generalist Alex Scollay | 3d Modeling Horia Trandafir | Animation Khet Yee Sang | Layout Goran Kocov | Matte Painting Jorik Dozy | Compositing Nicholas Caillier | Paint & Comp Senye | Sound Design Selle Sellink | Music ‘Sleepless’, ‘06 13494’ and ‘Repeat Until Death’ by Novo Amor | Record Label Dave Grinnell, All Points | Thanks To Leire Zabala Arrieta | All Rights Reserved 2019 AllPoints
About The Project
The biggest crisis of our time is the climate emergency. To say something about such a complex issue, we traveled to Mongolia, where - due to climate change - an increasing amount of herders and nomads are unable to sustain their nomadic lifestyle.
As a result, they relocate to the city and burn coal to stay warm, polluting the city and creating one of the worst public health emergencies in the world.
Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia is our world's most polluted capital.
Every winter, as many as 220,000 households burn coal to stay warm. When families can’t afford coal they sometimes burn tyres and other scraps. Air pollution, or “smoke” as the residents call it, often reaches several times that of Beijing or Delhi and can go up to 133x times the level the World Health Organization (WHO) deems safe.
The hospitals are packed every winter, as thousands of children fall sick. Respiratory infections have increased at a rate of 270% over the last 10 years and children living in the city have a 40% lower lung function than those living in rural areas, according to Unicef.
Harsh winters have killed off millions of livestock, forcing rural herders to the capital for work. In 2004, almost 70,000 people moved from rural areas to the city. Since then as many as 45,000 have moved to the capital annually. Most collect in the ger district, an area officials say accounts for 80% of the city’s air pollution.
Since there is no access to clean energy, people turn to coal to stay warm.
The Tsaatan are amongst these nomads forced to retreat from the wild. An ever-changing climate weakens their animals and threatens an entire culture with extinction. Today, only 40 Tsaatan families remain.
Production
To capture the film, we spent 20 days in Mongolia. The intense pollution in capital Ulaanbaatar, which is an essential part of our story, only occurs in winter, when temperatures drop to well below -35 degrees Celsius. From Ulaanbaatar we traveled 3 days to reach the Tsaatan tribe (reindeer herders) in the southern most tip of Siberia.
Filming at temperatures of -35 degrees proved to be extremely challenging. Not just physically for the crew and cast, but also for the equipment. Although there were some moments that we filmed at -10 and the sun was out and it really was quite comfortable, we shot the majority of the film in intense cold.
In the camp, there was no running water, as all the water was deeply frozen. While we were shooting, our Mongolian crew cut big blocks of ice from the nearby lake, which we drank as teas and soups.
Post Production
No animals were harmed during production. For the death scene of our lead character's beloved reindeer, we rebuild the girl's reindeer in CG and composed it into the shots.
