Synopsis
It is spring on the dusty landscape of Bayanhongor province in Mongolia’s vast desert land. Daava and Zaya are a young nomadic couple who live with their four kids, herding their flock of animals. It is birthing season and sleepless nights are spent outside roaming the land for injured lambs or assisting struggling camels to give birth to their young. In this precarious time of year the family notice some of their animals going missing and speculate about the nearby wolves.
One cold morning they are devastated to find their animals killed by the sudden cold of a violent dzud.
Daava is forced to sell his beloved horse and the family see no option other than to sell their remaining animals and move to the city. As they herd up the last of their animals Daava sees his horse has returned unexplainably to their land and tells his wife of “the haunting omen.“
The family pack up their worldly possessions and begin the long drive to the country’s capital.
In the city Daava and Zaya set up their ger in a small fenced plot and begin the process of integrating into the new urban environment. Neighbours come over to check them out and tell them to be careful of the “cars that drive around at night looking for illegals.” As they venture to the housing office to begin the complicated process of registering they discover that they must find work within a short period of time or risk being forcibly evicted.
At night Daava starts to hear the sound of nearby horses roaming around the ger districts but is surprised to learn that no one else in the family can hear them. As he looks for work he begins to understand that he may be asked to do things to earn a living that he never could have imagined.
Over the course of the film, 'The Wolves Always Comes at night‘ explores the struggle to stay positive under uncertainty and disruption, and the bonds of connection with our loved ones, land, and animals which keep us safe.
Crew
Regie: GABRIELLE BRADY
Bildgestaltung: MICHAEL LATHAM
Tonmeister: ICHINNOROV ZENDMENE-ERDENE
Regieassistent: ERDENE ENKHJARGAL
Recherche & Aufnahmeleitung: DORJPAGMA DUGAR
Herstellungsleitung: OYUNDARI KHUELBAATAR
Montage: KATHARINE FIEDLER
Produzentin: ARIUNAA TSERENPIL (GURU MEDIA)
Produzentin: RITA WALSH (OVER HERE PRODUCTIONS)
Produzentin: JULIA NIETHAMMER (CHROMOSOM)
executive producer: DEANNE WEIR (WEIRANDERSON FILMS)
executive producer: DAN COGAN (STORY SYNDICATE)
Redakteurin (BBC Storyville): EMMA HINDLEY
Redakteur (SWR/ ARTE): BERND SEIDL