Lost Mountain – Gu Tao

Description

Synopsis of Lost Mountain

“Wulubutie”, in Oroqen, translates as “lonely mountain”. It is the Oroqen settlement in the north of Inner Mongolia.

The former hunter, Gelibao, has contracted a horse farm in the mountains and raised more than 100 hunting horses in the traditional way. Although hunting is banned, Gelibao occasionally visits the mountains. He does that not for hunting, but to adhere to the ancestors’ hunting culture. Gelibao’s son, Liang Liang, and his partners are inseparable from the forest, but are more interested in modern extreme sports. They form the cross-country motorcycle team and consume their passionate youth all over the mountain.

One day in the summer, Gelibao’s horse is shot by poachers. The sky of Wulubutie has turned to grey…

Information

1 hour 2 minutes | English & Simplified Chinese subtitles | HD (1920×1080)
China | 2014
Director: Gu Tao

Awards & Film Festivals

1. Asian Network of Documentary (AND) Fund, 2013 Busan International Film Festival
2. Top 10, 2014 China Independent Film Festival

Highlight Endorsement

“Perhaps the biggest strength of Lost Mountain is the ability to capture something ephemeral lurking behind the everyday, an alternative reality, steeped in ritual, that is gently slipping through the frames of modernized life.”
Bogna Konior, easternkicks.com

“Fantastic! The point of this film is to present the existence for people to see.”
Elárbol, Douban reviewer

Reasons for Recommendation

1. Lost Mountain has the rating of 8.0 on Douban.
2. It allows you to know the current living conditions of the Oroqen. (The Oroqen people moved down the mountain about 50 years earlier than the Evenki people.)
3. This documentary recovers part of the memory of the disappearing Oroqen culture.

More Info

1. BFI: Lost Mountain Q&A with director Gu Tao
2. Related blog posts