Malaysian co-produced film, "To Kill a Mongolian Horse" selected for Venice Days

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Malaysian co-produced film, "To Kill a Mongolian Horse" selected for Venice Days

Writer: Heidi Hsia

The film is executive produced by Malaysian director, screenwriter, and producer Tan Chui Mui

23 Jul - "To Kill A Mongolian Horse", a movie by Jiang Xiaoxuan and executive produced by Malaysian director and "Barbarian Invasion" actress Tan Chui Mui, has been selected for the "Giornate degli Autori" competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival and will have its world premiere in Italy.

Giornate degli Autori, also known as Venice Days, is an independent film festival section held in parallel to and in association with the Venice Film Festival. It was founded in 2004 by Giorgio Gosetti, modeled on the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

"To Kill A Mongolian Horse" is Jiang Xiaoxuan's first feature film, co-produced by the Malaysia film production house, Da Huang Pictures. It is an international co-production involving Malaysia, Hong Kong, the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand.

During its development, the film received funding from the 2023 Sundance Ignite Fellowship, the 2023 Busan International Film Festival's Asian Cinema Fund, and won the VIPO Award and the Sorfond Award at the Asian Project Market. It also received the White Light post-production award from the 2024 Hong Kong - Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF WIP), with post-production color grading support provided by Thailand company, White Light.

The film tells the story of a young herdsman in the wintry Mongolian steppes, who makes a living as a horseback performer. However, while performing as a brave cavalryman on stage, his real life begins to undergo significant changes.

Gaia Furrer, the Artistic Director of Giornate degli Autori commented, "It is marvelous, it really touched me deeply... It is an extraordinary debut. The director did an excellent compositional work and I was deeply touched by the humanity of the protagonist, split between tradition and modernity."

The director, Jiang said, "The film is inspired by true events that occurred to my friend Saina, a herdsman who decided to become a horseback performer as a more stable source of income. During my visits to the horse show, I was struck by its hyper-masculine atmosphere, where traditional Mongolian masculinity was prominently featured in the performances. These male performers became the subjects of a fetishized gaze, celebrating not just their masculinity but also their ethnic identity."

The producer, Mo said, "I read the script a year and a half ago for the first time, I felt a kind of divinity, and there was a mysterious force that kept pushing us forward. We had a lot of fun doing the film in an inquisitive indie way, proud of us!"