American Cinematographer - September 2016 - 22

Production Slate

Taking Flight
By Betsy A. McLane

The documentary The Eagle Huntress paints a portrait of
daring opposition to centuries of male prerogative in a traditional
Kazakh community. Set against the remote beauty of the Mongolian
steppe and Altai Mountains, the movie follows 13-year-old Aisholpan, who - with the support of her devoted father, Agalai - sets
out to become a champion eagle hunter. The true story resonates
beyond borders, and it could only be told by filmmakers willing to
embrace physical, financial and artistic risks.
The movie marks director Otto Bell's first feature, but he and
director of photography Simon Niblett had previously collaborated
on numerous shorts. The close camaraderie they established on
those projects was only one reason Bell called on Niblett for his
feature-documentary debut. The cinematographer is also an expert
in tough outdoor shoots and an inventor of specialized camera
equipment that he constructs at his own workshop in England's
coastal village of Bantham, in the county of Devon.
Niblett says his approach to equipment is intuitive, not reactive - meaning that rather than getting a piece of gear and seeing
what it can do, he looks first at what he wants to accomplish, then
creates what is needed to reach that goal. He calls this "back-to-front
technology - what to do, then how to do it." For The Eagle
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September 2016

Huntress he used an ABC Speedy crane, which he modified for
greater reach.
Bell became fascinated with Aisholpan's story through a
series of stills taken by Asher Svidensky. Those photos attracted
worldwide attention, and Bell persuaded Svidensky to help turn the
photo essay into a film. Other filmmakers were also interested, so
Bell had to act quickly, but Niblett was committed to another project
at the time. Instead, Bell made his first trip to Mongolia with Svidensky and New York-based cameraman Chris Raymond.
Flying into Ulaanbaatar, the trio continued in a twin-prop
plane to Ölgii, a village in the Bayan-Ölgii province of northwest
Mongolia. From there, it was a two-hour ride in a Soviet-era bus to
the nomadic yurt - known locally as a "ger" - where Aisholpan's
family makes its summer home. Over the course of the journey, with
Mongolia's seemingly endless beauty stretching out on all sides, Bell
realized the landscape itself would have to play an important role in
the documentary.
The filmmakers sat down with the reserved Kazakhs over a
cup of tea, and discussions began about the possibility of making a
documentary. This was a delicate moment. To achieve the results he
wanted, Bell and his collaborators needed to gain the trust of people
who are deeply tied to the timeless patterns of nature and the
customs of their ancestors. These Kazakhs survive traveling by horseback and pickup truck across the steppe, herding goats and cattle

American Cinematographer

The Eagle Huntress photos by Andrew Yarme and Asher Svidensky, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

After learning
falconry from
her father,
13-year-old
Aisholpan
pursues her
passion - and
in the process
breaks gender
barriers within
her traditional
Mongolian
culture -
in the
documentary
The Eagle
Huntress.

American Cinematographer - September 2016

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