Film Archive

Cave of the Yellow Dog, The (Hoehle des gelben Hundes, Die)

Scene from "The Cave of the Yellow Dog" (photo © Schesch Film)

Nansal (6), the oldest daughter of a Mongolian nomad family finds a small dog one day while out in the fields. When she brings him home, her father is afraid he could bring bad luck and demands that she immediately get rid of him. Despite her father’s orders, she keeps the puppy and tries to hide him from her skeptical father. When the family uproots to move to another camp, the father leaves the puppy behind, tied up to a post. Only when the dog proves himself to the father by protecting the family’s baby boy from a flock of threatening vultures does the father accept him and welcome him into their family.

The Cave of the Yellow Dog tells the story of the age-old bond between man and dog, a bond which experiences a new twist through the eternal cycle of reincarnation in Mongolia.

Byambasuren Davaa was born in 1971 in Ulaanbaatar/Mongolia. From 1989 to 1994 she worked as a speaker and assistant director for Mongolia's Public TV. From 1995 to 1998 she attended the Film Academy in Ulaanbaatar, followed by studies at Munich’s University of Television & Film (HFF/M) in the documentary department. Her films include: One World, Two Economies (1993), Das orange Pferd (1999), Wunsch (2001), Unterwegs, Portrait of a Girl (2003), The Story of the Weeping Camel (Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel, 2003) which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Documentary Feature, The Cave of the Yellow Dog (Die Hoehle des gelben Hundes, 2005), and The Two Horses of Genghis Khan (Die zwei Pferde des Dschingis Khan, 2009).

Genre Family, Society
Category Feature Film Cinema
Year of Production 2005
Director Byambasuren Davaa
Screenplay Byambasuren Davaa
Director of Photography Daniel Schoenauer
Editor Sarah Clara Weber
Music by Ganpurev Dagvan
Producer Stephan Schesch
Production Company Schesch Film/Munich, in co-production with Hochschule fuer Fernsehen und Film Muenchen (HFF/M)/Munich
Length 93 min, 2,547 m
Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85
Original Version Mongolian
Subtitled Versions English, German
Sound Technology Dolby SRD
Festival Screenings Munich 2005, San Sebastian 2005, Pusan 2005, Warsaw 2005, Hamptons 2005, Goteborg 2006, Mar del Plata 2006, Shanghai 2006
Awards Golden Starfish Prize, KODAK Award, Artemis Records Original Movie Score Award Hamptons 2005, Best Direction: Women & Film Mar del Plata 2006, German Film Award 2006 (Best Children & Youth Film)
With backing from German Federal Film Board (FFA), BKM, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
German Distributor X Verleih/Berlin

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