Falconry has a history that stretches back over 40 centuries. In the West it was a prevailing passion of the medieval aristocracy, but its prestige continues undiminished in contemporary Arab culture. Three years of observing this form of hunting in the field have made it possible to capture the spirit of a tradition that today allows its practitioners to keep a close rapport with the desert, despite their predominantly urban lifestyle. Our guide to how they cross that threshold is a falconer taking his birds to compete in a tournament in Qatar. In the glaring light of an empty landscape, following flight lines and lures, the film recounts a strange kind of “desert weekend”, in which technological and anthropological microcosms hang in the air, like the falcon, drifting on the irreversible currents of images.
“The Challenge” Original Soundtrack released on Warp Records
Limited Edition 10″ Vinyl + Art Book (500 Copies), Digital WAP404
EXHIBITIONS
2016
Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, Switzerland
Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Teatrino Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
The Challenge, Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2017
Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
HÄMATLI & PATRIÆ, Museion, Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland
The Challenge, Zero… gallery, Milan, Italy
2018
SCULTURE, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement, Verbier Art Summit, Verbier, Switzerland
FESTIVALS
2016
“Cineasti del Presente”, 69th Locarno Film Festival, Locarno, Switzerland
Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers IFF, Skopje, Fyrom
Festival International du Film de La Roche-Sur-Yon, La Roche Sur-Yon, France
VIENNALE, Vienna, Austria
Sevilla European Film Festival, Sevilla, Spain
La Mostra de CineBaix, Barcelona, Spain
IDFA, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Torino Film Festival, Torino, Italy
Mar del Plata IFF, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Festival de Cine de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Dubai IFF, Dubai, UAE
2017
Lanzarote Film Festival, Lanzarote, Spain
Premiers Plans, Paris, France
IF Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
Goteborg Film Festival, Goteborg, Sweden
FICUNAM – Festival Internacional de Cine UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
Luxembourg City Film festival, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Indielisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
SXSW, Austin, TX, USA
Desert Exhibition of Art, Palm Springs, CA, USA
New Directors/New Films, MoMA Lyncoln Center, New York, USA
True/False Film Fest, Coloumbia, Missouri, USA
Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA, USA
Terra di Cinema, Paris, France
Cinedelphia Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Hot Docs, Toronto, Canada
CPH:DOX, Copenhagen, Denmark
San Francisco International Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, USA
DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada
Exile Room, Athens, Greece
DOK.fest München, Munich, Germany
Cinema Km Zero, curated by Marco Müller Osteria del Pancotto, Ravenna, Italy
Jeonju International Film Festival, Jeonju City, South Korea
Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland
Beat Film Festival, Moscow, Russia
Hot Docs in Montreal, Phi Centre, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
FIDADOC Festival International de Agadir, Agadir, Marocco
DOCaviv, the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
EDOC, Festival Internacional de Cine Documental, Quito, Ecuador
Mammoth Lakes Film Festival, Mammoth Lakes, California
Encounters Documentary Festival, Cape Town and Johannesbourg, South Africa
Oak Cliff Film Festival, Dallas, TX, USA
Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh, UK
Taipei Film Festival, Taiwan
Rooftop Films Summer Festival, New York City, NY, USA
Picturehause Central, London, UK
Festival du film Franco Arabe, Amman, Jordan
Singapore International Festival of the Arts, Singapore
DokuFest, Prizren, Kosovo
Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne, Australia
Makedox, Skopje, Fyrom
Pancevo Film Festival, Pancevo, Serbia
Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York City, NY, USA
Bergen Internasjonale Film Festival, Bergen, Norway
PerSo Film Festival, Perugia, Italy
Milwaukee Film Festival, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Astra Film Festival, Sibiu, Romania
Presente Italiano Film Festival, Pistoia, Italy
IsReal Festival del Cinema Reale, Nuoro, Italy
“Carta blanca, Una muestra imprescindible”, DocsMX, Mexico City, Mexico
São Paulo International Film Festival, São Paulo, Brazil
41st North Film Festival, Michigan Tech University, Houghton, Michigan, USA
Virginia Film Festival, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
2018
DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland
Cinema Km Zero, curated by Marco Müller Osteria del Pancotto, Ravenna, Italy
Kino Sõprus, Tallin, Estonia
Festival of Film and Urbanism, Slavutych, Ukraine
DOCS València, València, Spain
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
2016
Beursschouwburg, Bruxelles, Belgium
2017
Filmmaker, Arcobaleno Film Center, Milan, Italy
Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, France
Acropolis Cinema, Los Angeles, California
CinemaCity Multiplex, Ravenna, Italy
Supercinema Santarcangelo, Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy
The Texas Theatre, Dallas, Texas, USA
MAXXI, Rome, Italy
Jean Cocteau Cinema, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Parkway Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Belcourt Theatre, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Osio Cinema, Monterey, CA, USA
Laemmle Theaters, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2018
Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL, USA
Yle TV channel, Finland
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
AWARDS
2016
Special Jury Prize, “Cineasti del Presente” section, 69th Locarno Film Festival, Locarno, Switzerland
2017
Jury Prize, “Carta blanca. Una muestra imprescindible” section, DocsMX, Mexico City, Mexico
Special Jury Prize, “Masterpiece” section, PerSo Film Festival 2017, Perugia, Italy
Honorable Mention of the Jury, “Depth of Field” section, 19th DOCaviv, Tel Aviv, Israel
2018
Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Direction, “Cinema Eye Honors”, New York, USA
Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, “Cinema Eye Honors”, New York, USA
Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score, “Cinema Eye Honors”, New York, USA
SOURCE: YURI ANCARANI