''State of Dogs'' ( mn, Нохойн орон, alternately ''Nokhoin Oron'') is a

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

n movie that was released in 1998, directed and written by Peter Brosens and Dorjkhandyn Turmunkh. The film was shown at the 1998

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

, the 1998

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

, the 1999

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan ( ). It was first held in October 1989, which makes it one of the longest running documentary film festivals in the world and ...

, and won the Grand Prix at the 1998

Visions du Réel Visions du Réel (Visions of Reality) is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current na ...

film festival in

Nyon, Switzerland Nyon (; outdated German: or ; outdated Italian: , ) is a municipality in Nyon District in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Gen ...

Synopsis

Set in Mongolia's capital city,

Ulan Bator Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north cen ...

, the film combines documentary elements with fictional elements in the fragmented, impressionistic and dreamlike story of Baasar, a dog who dies early in the movie — shot by a hunter employed by the city to reduce its dog population, which has more than one dog for each four humans in its population of 800,000. According to Mongolian legend, a dog (who is prepared) may be reincarnated in its next life as a human, after roaming free for as long as he wants. Baasar roams the memory of his life, uninterested in advancing to a human life. The film includes brief interludes with a solar eclipse, a segment in which a young man recites poems directly to the camera, and a depiction of modern Mongolian life with undercurrents of mysticism and myth.

Cultural influence

Garth Stein Garth Stein is an American author and film producer from Seattle, Washington. Widely known as the author of the novel '' The Art of Racing in the Rain,'' Stein is also a documentary film maker, playwright, teacher, and amateur racer. Early life ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

, was inspired by ''State of Dogs'' to write his best selling novel '' The Art of Racing in the Rain''.

Awards

* "Grand Prix",

, Nyon * "Grand Prix", Graz Biennale für Medien und Architektur * "Grand Prix", Maremma Doc Festival, in Tuscany * "Grand Prix" & "Special Jury Award", SEIA, Portugal * "Critics Award",

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival ( pt, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A non-profit event, the festival is organized ...

* "Best Documentary", Molodist International Film Festival, Kiev * "FICC Prize", Molodist International Film Festival, Kiev * "Don Quixote Award," Molodist International Film Festival * "Best Film Award", Molodist International Film Festival * "Best Feature Film Award", Gavà International Environmental Film Festival * "Best Script Award", Györ MediaWave International Festival of Visual Arts, Hungary * "Special Jury Award", St. Petersburg Message to Man Film Festival * “Critics Award,” Bodrum Environmental International Film Festival * “Mention Spéciale du Jury” Strasbourg Semaine du Documentaire de Création Européen * “European Lianas for Best Documentary” New European Talent 98, Barcelona * “Silver Award” World Festival of Human and Nature Films, Korea * “Fonske” KFL (Katholieke Filmliga)

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0169268, title=Nohoi Oron 1998 films Mongolian documentary films