From boy to man: coming of age in Siberia | SLICE | FULL DOCUMENTARY

in Russia beyond the Arctic Circle lies anti-payuta a Nanette Village the Nanette says are the last reindeer breeders in the Siberian great North see he's 14 years old and the border at the Village School for the past seven years throughout this time a dick has only seen his parents once a year he's learned Russian and knows how to read and write this year he will complete his compulsory years of education a throwback to the former Soviet regime if he wants he can now leave school for good it's spring vacation all the borders at anti-payuta have been impatiently waiting for it they can now go back to their families whom they haven't seen for a long time they return to the tundra so dear to both young and old Nanette's look at me foreign s the agricultural cooperatives from the Soviet era still function in the region the sofkov in fact is responsible for the children returning each year to their families [Music] [Music] Edie hasn't seen his parents for months he knows that his father is counting on him and is bound to ask him to choose between school and his family the choice frightens the youngster [Music] foreign on come on it's always an emotional moment for a dick when he returns to his parents Chum the Nanette's traditional home and where traditional tundra food consisting of naturally Frozen reindeer meat and raw fish is waiting for him a dick is still not a man at the dinner table he sits in the area reserved for women and children if he proves worthy of his ancestors only then will he sit with the men another one um the time has come for my son to learn how to raise Reindeer the future will tell us if he's going to choose to continue maybe he'll decide to come with us maybe he'll keep studying to learn other things I really think I want to keep studying you do well first you got to grow up I'll teach you how to raise them and when you become a man you can decide four thousand kilometers south of anti-payota in Mongolia The Winds of the Gobi desert crash against the altai mountains [Music] are brothers they're Nomad animal breeders and live under the benevolent authority of their grandfather he's ordered them to gather the camels which have strayed far from the camp as they usually do when grass is scarce [Music] in the Gobi Desert Rain is rare and often a few weeks early or late which can totally upset the vegetation cycle only their vast experience enables nomadic camel breeders to survive in this unfertile universe to which they are so attached [Music] watches his grandsons from the entrance to his yort as they return to Camp with the family's 80 camels he looks worried [Music] the last two summers have been too hot the drought has hit us very hard many families have lost their herds they go to Ulan Bator penniless I like desert life I Won't Give It Up my herd isn't enormous but there's not enough grass for all my animals they both know camels very well with our people as soon as a child gets to be three or four years old we teach him to take care of the baby camels is married it might be a good thing for him but it is the spirits who will decide we'll see foreign is one of the last Bactrian camel breeding families these camels are raised for transportation for their meat and for their milk a great deal of experience is required to breed them a female can only give birth to one baby every two years and the infant remains fragile for the first years of its life the entire family looks after the animals with great care their nomadic Breeder's life is closely and essentially linked to the herd nuts animals are hungry the Camel's milk is not very abundant and the little ones don't have as much as they need [Music] s of a pasture not too far away but will there be enough grass there [Music] oh foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] here [Music] we could use [Music] [Music] cool oh God [Music] four families make up Guinness Clan together their herd numbers 4 000 reindeer the men of the clan know each one of their animals their lasso those who are going to pull the sleds because never rounded up the reindeer with a man of his clan he's afraid of being in the way and prefers to stay on the sidelines Jenna however doesn't agree he wants to see his son at work and orders him to participate [Music] foreign [Music] everything happens very quickly the reindeer are fast and numerous a dick has trouble recognizing them and can't decide where to position himself [Music] the youngster feels even more clumsy as he admiringly watches the skill of Genna and the others [Music] [Music] thank you Gena overtakes a young male The Mating Season is ending and he marks the animal for castration [Music] is disappointed by his poor performance tradition Gena sacrifices a reindeer in honor of his son's return the animal is strangled with the head Facing East in reverence to numb the master of the sky and creator of the sun and the summer cuts off the sacrificed animal's left ear and pours its blood on a Dick's forehead to bring his son Health luck and Fortune the ear is placed on the the sled loaded with sacred objects nothing is wasted in the tundra the animal's skin will be used to cover the tomb for bedding or for clothing the animal's organs are a delicacy when eaten raw the men serve themselves first and when they've had their fill the women and children join the feast um in the past the Russians knew very little about the ninense customs and totally misunderstood the nature of this ritual they thought these Nomads were cannibals and called them samoyedes the people who eat themselves for the Nanette's however it's a rare occasion to eat food that hasn't been frozen in addition the liver the heart and fresh blood supply them with precious vitamins [Music] [Music] have begun exploring the entire region in search of New Pasture mountains desert steps and snow-covered Dunes create an immense landscape in which pasture land is very rare goats are also raised here although they produce one of the world's finest cashmeres their increasing numbers have worn out the Earth and disorganized traditional breeding [Music] octagon is disappointed his task is particularly difficult but he has to keep looking [Music] zolbow climbs to the tops of the dunes to get a broader View [Music] there's no grass to be seen on the horizon has he unknowingly offended the master spirits of nature are they taking Revenge by moving the pastures further away foreign [Music] the Mongols believe that there are many living things that cannot be seen the universe they feel is filled with invisible and omnipresent spirits water plant and animal spirits spirits of the Dead living in the desert haunting the steps the hills and the mountains men must live in collusion with them [Music] altagon will be getting married soon if he finds good pasture he is more likely to be designated by his grandfather and thus gain his independence but he's exhausted and discouraged he's been looking for two days without any success [Music] suddenly however minions [Music] the grass is there seeds are good the camels are safe [Music] thank you near the camp the men have spotted wolf tracks as long as there are predators in the area the herd has to be watched night and day for as long as the threat exists watching The Herd is a task traditionally given to the youngsters edict mounts the guard a few kilometers from the campsite foreign foreign [Music] with its bad weather prowling Wolves and the boy's own personal fears hours go by and the long glacial night is about to begin it's 50 below Celsius anti-payuta is far away now so is the peace and safety of his boarding school the Night Belongs to na the master of the Moon and darkness he lives in the depths of the earth and he never thoughts uh numb from the cold Eddie can barely move in the end he falls asleep as the wolf stop their prey Ryan very good okay we're new foreign Beyond The Dunes to the east a day's walk away since she's had no news of him altagan hasn't seen him and the whole family is worried zolbo is far away beyond the mountains he's Alone lost in a sandstorm and exhausted [Music] in anticipation of Misfortune natsag questions the Oracle with the help of sacred coins all right [Music] the coins however don't reveal anything and the family is more worried than ever [Music] foreign [Music] still hasn't come back but it's the herd that determines the life of the clan it's therefore time to leave [Music] [Applause] the yards are taken down and the animals are loaded in a few hours the Caravan sets out with its 80 strong camel herd [Music] thank you foreign [Music] while under his responsibility his mother is worried the boy has never gone far from the camp on his own and this is an expedition that might last several days Jenna is confident all young nanazis have faced this ordeal at one time or another Eddie will prove that the blood of his ancestors flows through his veins he'll manage just fine this time edict faces the unknown he Ventures into the huge unforgiving desert of ice all alone with his reindeer and his dog tomorrow [Music] [Music] the news arrives from the south with the coming of spring the tundra is warming up it's time to head north a Dick's mother doesn't want to leave Camp as long as her son hasn't come back but Genna insists [Music] before long the ice in the rivers will be too fragile to support the herd they have got to leave now [Music] summer will soon be here it will not only be hot but there will also be swarms of mosquitoes the clan gets ready to leave tasks are clearly defined and everyone knows exactly what he or she has to do the men women and children take down the tombs and load the sleds with all the everyday equipment they need reindeer don't take the heat very well in the spring the nanetsis head north in search of cooler weather near the sea the journey entails several exhausting weeks breaking Camp every three or four days all right nice to meet you and his wife finish their final preparations Gana places are specially made doll on a sled a small Idol representing the ancestor Spirit which protects the family after two hours everything is ready for the departure the first sleds take off after which the Caravan moves out in total unison foreign leads the group on a light easy to handle sled the chief of the clan comes the sleds of the women and children then come the food supply sleds the troom with its 150 Reindeer and the sacred sled with its Priceless load with its 45 sleds and more than 4 000 head of cattle the imposing Caravan stretches for several kilometers [Music] [Applause] [Music] um foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign has failed the tests required to become a reindeer breeder Genna is worried about these failures he begins to wonder if his son will be able to find his way back to the camp [Music] aign's Clan has passed the mountains [Music] the nomads slide along the sand they never build anything durable since no one can possess the land it belongs to the spirits not to man their life is constant movement their only wealth is their herd it's the number and the quality of the herd that gives the breeder his place in the social hierarchy it's the camel who decides and it's the grass the rain and nature in general which the chief of the clan must read like an open book he observes he remembers he senses when it's time to go and he leaves with the animals and the people of his clan following behind him [Music] out [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] at the pasture someone is waiting zolbow has picked up his brother's Trail and prefers to stay there rather than join the Caravan this way he hopes he hopes prove that he knows as well as his brother how to find the grass the animals need [Music] it um you need [Applause] the York circular shape is symbolic of the universe the interior is the core the central pillar is in direct relation to the Earth's axis that is how the spirits go in and out of the yot oh the atmosphere at dinner is relaxed the clan has settled into a new pasture area everyone jokes around and recounts what he or she imagined had happened to solbo thank you foreign [Music] hadik has been walking for two days searching for the missing and Elusive reindeer he's almost out of food he looked stubbornly for the rare tracks that the wind hasn't erased he orients himself by the sun when it breaks through the clouds and tries to follow the Frozen riverbeds the reindeer droppings scattered on the snow are fairly fresh but it knows that sometimes the spirits try to fool Men by putting them on the wrong track all right a violent storm blows through the tundra the temperature drops to 40 degrees below zero Celsius back at the camp Geno watches the Horizon with a worried look the storm has been raging relentlessly for hours mother is frantic why didn't Jenna go with his son Jenna however stubbornly repeats that edict will find his way alone in the storm exhausted and deep in his arm it seems to him that he's been walking forever still no sign of the reindeer the boy is fighting for his survival he can't stop in this cold a dick refuses to give in to the doubt that constantly gnaws away at him what if the reindeer he's following are wild reindeer [Music] [Music] suddenly familiar Shadows emerge from out of the blizzard and he recognizes them immediately they're the Clans reindeer relieved by what he sees he momentarily forgets his fatigue [Music] edex ordeal however is not over as soon as the wind subsides he must begin his Trek Back to the camp ah Mongol Nomads begin training the camels they'll use for transportation when the animals are about four years old after they've been castrated a good camel trainer is skillful and knows how to show his authority [Music] the nostrils of the future Mount are perforated with a piece of hard wood which will be used to lead them [Music] [Applause] zobo climbs onto the back of the young camel which is being mounted for the very first time zobo dominates the animal with ease nutsack judges his grandson's performance with an eye honed by years of experience zolbow is flawless tomorrow natsag will go to the Llama chinbold to consult the Stars he needs the spirit's advice now natsag must decide which of his two grandsons will inherit the second herd [Music] s the entire Clan goes to the OBU a sacred Cairn hanging on the side of the mountain where the spirits of the place live the teachings of the wise men and the astrologists are very important in the Mongol World they participate in all important family decisions [Music] by reciting the prayers the old wise man pays tribute to the spirits of the oboe and he consults the Stars to which of his two grandsons should not sag confide half of his herd [Music] the Stars confirm not zag's feelings they designate solbo natsag is Overjoyed solbo is married and the herd will give him the independence he needs to live as a free man as for altagan he will have to wait he'll stay with the old Chief natzag who will rely on him [Music] cited edik has found his bearings and his clan a legendary sense of direction that is in every minute it's his blood has worked again [Music] [Applause] [Music] his success has given him confidence it's a new edict who stops his sled in front of his parents tomb [Music] um foreign [Music] [Music] and his accomplishment genre invites the boy to eat with him he has shown himself to be worthy of his ancestors and thus can sit with the men let's go [Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] we'll move here [Music] next year Edith will leave for the village of anti-payuta and continue his studies he now knows however that he will live here in the future he will strive to live as his ancestors did as a true Nanette a free and courageous man [Music] how are you it's just [Applause] it's one of the last cold days of spring in the Gobi desert the heat comes on suddenly and the problem of water quickly becomes vital in the early morning natsag's family has already taken down a yacht and loaded it on the camels and his wife ma get ready to leave with a herd that has just been entrusted to them foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] Camel's milk is thrown over the tracks of the couple as they leave for good luck [Music] zobo master of his own destiny will now seek his road on the earth with the spirits of his ancestors reign it is they who award the pastures who determine the fertility of the herd and the prosperity of the Breeders [Music] thank you [Music] from the north to the south of the huge expanse of Siberia people have kept their roots and perpetuated their ancient culture of nomadic animal breeders [Music] Children of the steps and of the tundra all lovers of dry and often hostile lands have retained the teachings of their Elders in their hearts to become true men foreign

Channel: SLICE

Views: 923,672

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, shortdoc, shortdocs, slice, slicedocs

Id: j4LlzABOEb4

Length: 48min 52sec (2932 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 11 2023