The US press and industry premiere of director Amrasaikhan Baljinnyam’s drama Harvest Moon played to an enthusiastic, packed audience Thursday, December 15 at an Asian World Film Festival special event at the Landmark Theater in Westwood Village, Los Angeles. The film’s Producer Uran Sainbileg, Director of Photography Josua Fischer and Sound Designer/Editor/Mixer Evan Millard were in attendance.
Harvest Moon was Mongolia’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, due to take place on Sunday, March 12, 2023. Widely considered to be one of the best films to come out of Mongolia in recent years, it tells the touching story of a man, returning to his native village in the Mongolian steppe to care for his dying stepfather, who strikes up a bittersweet friendship with a young orphan boy, which changes their lives forever.
Baljinnyam, who also stars in the film, is a high-profile, experienced Mongolian actor who has appeared in many acclaimed Mongolian films, as well as Netflix’s original series Marco Polo. Harvest Moon is his directorial debut, for which he also wrote the screenplay. Prior to the start of the film, a number of short videos were screened introducing co-production incentives from the Mongolian National Film Council.
With Harvest Moon the director wishes to express his people’s hearts, emotions and mindsets through the common challenges of a nomadic Mongolian society on the brink of change, in order to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.
The premiere of the film coincides with the decision by the Government of Mongolia to announce 2023 and 2024 as the years of “Visit Mongolia.” The country, known as the Last Frontier of the Nomadic Culture, has set a target to receive one million tourists in 2023. Many are confident that this film will be an essential promotion to achieve this goal.
Harvest Moon’s world premiere was held at the 41st Vancouver International Film Festival 2022, where it won the Vanguard Audience Award. Based on a short novel Tuutulei, by T. Bum-Erden, the film has received a number of strong, critically acclaimed reviews, and is represented for International Sales by Asian Shadows.
